


A Flower's Touch

by WavesBlade



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, Past Lives, Second Chances, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2018-10-28 12:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10831128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WavesBlade/pseuds/WavesBlade
Summary: Sephiroth is victorious over Cloud and his friends. Having no other choice, Minerva sends Aerith Gainsborough back in time to change the future. In order to do so, Aerith must overcome her previous life as a delicate mystical flower girl and become a true force of nature destined to save the world from the Calamity, and perhaps, even save the Calamity's children from it's grasp...





	1. Return to Sender

It was over.

Despite everything they had been through, despite how hard they had all struggled, Aerith Gainsborough watched helplessly from the lifestream as the recently revived One Winged Angel Sephiroth ran Cloud Strife through with his blade. His friends laid beaten and bloody around the battlefield, barley clinging to life with Aerith's help from the lifestream. But it didn't matter, as Sephiroth pulled his sword back, Cloud fell forward and collapsed.

"Goodbye, Cloud," said Sephiroth softly, with an almost fond voice.

The man lifted his sword and swung, decapitating Gaia's champion. The shock of the moment caused Aerith to lose focus, and without her touch, the rest of Avalanche succumbed to their injuries and died. Aerith couldn't help but let loose a grief stricken scream that echoed throughout the entire lifestream, stirring the countless souls that rested there.

She collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. "No... NO!"

There was nothing in Sephiroth's way anymore. He would destroy the planet and ride it's corpse through the stars only to repeat the tragedy upon another world.

"It's over," sobbed Aerith.

"Dear child," came a soft voice from behind her.

Aerith turned to see Minerva, Goddess of Gaia, manifestation of the will of the planet, appear and walk forward. "Goddess... what do we do?"

Minerva shook her head. "There is nothing we can do, not for _this_ world. My last champion, Genesis, We have sent on his way to stall Calamity's Child, but he will not last long. There will not be enough time for Chaos and Omega to fulfill their duties, ignoring that Calamity's Child would not let them succeed to begin with."

"So it's over? We just give up?!" exclaimed Aerith.

Minerva smiled sadly, "We did not say that. We said merely that there was nothing to be done for _this_ world. But perhaps, for another, there can be hope."

Aerith frowned. "What... do you mean?"

Minerva focused her gaze critically on Aerith. "Child of the planet, will you do us one last service?"

Aerith stood up, face growing determined. "I'll do anything."

Minerva spoke solemnly. "As an Cetra, and as the dearest child born of the planet, you alone had a special attachment to the lifestream. You can flow through it's depths as none before you ever could."

Aerith's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought all Ancients could... why am I special?"

"Because, you are our fail-safe. The planet could see visions of potential futures that awaited us. So many of them, dear child, were bleak. We needed a way out. Within you, we imbued a special ability, to transverse in reverse, at an ultimate cost, through the lifesteam."

"I... don't understand," said Aerith.

"We will initiate the consumption and use of the entire lifestream to destroy the planet and activate it's fail-safe, killing Calamity's Child and sparing my brother and sister worlds his damning touch. In doing so, we can send you back to the past, to create and safeguard a new world," explained Minerva.

Aerith stared at her in shock. "G-goddess... you... the planet... it would sacrifice itself to do so?"

Minerva nodded. "We would. It is our duty to do so. So we ask, will you fulfill this final request?"

"But... what could I do? How could I change things?" asked Aerith.

Minerva smiled. "You'll find a way. Trust in yourself and your gifts, stride forth with strength and conviction, walk past the meekness your youth used to be filled with and grant our world a shinning new future."

Aerith closed her eyes, a green mako tear sliding down her face. "I'll do it."

Minerva strode forward and embraced Aerith in a loving hug. "We know you will dear child, we know you will. We entrust the fate of a new world in your hands."

Minerva began to glow brightly. "Genesis has fallen and Calamity's Child gathers his power to rend the planet anew. There is no more time. Goodbye my child."

Minerva grew brighter and brighter until finally, she exploded in a brilliant shower of light, and for a time, all Aerith saw was green, and then, all she saw was darkness...

* * *

"Aerith? Aerith!" came a slightly panicked voice.

"Tseng, calm yourself, she'll be okay, she still has a pulse," came an older voice.

Aerith slowly became aware of someone shaking her. She groaned and opened her eyes, sighting a younger looking Tseng than she was familiar with looking over her with a bit of panic. The moment he saw her open her eyes, his panic faded and his usual calm mask returned.

He offered her a hand. "It's fortunate you awoke Aerith. You've been out for hours after Rude contacted us. We were contemplating returning you to the labs to be looked after if you did not recover."

Aerith reached up and rubbed her forehead, pausing to look at her smaller hands. She looked down at her younger body, seeing herself in a blue-ish full-body dress. It looked a lot like the one she had met Zack in. She panicked briefly as she began to think. Had she met Zack already? If she had, it might already be to late!

"What year is it?" she demanded.

Tseng blinked a few times, taken aback. "It's... 1999."

She frowned. "How late into the year?"

Tseng studied her curiously. "Aerith?"

She pushed away his offered hand and stood up, She noted another two Turks, the director Veld, and Rude, standing behind him, watching over her. "Answer the question Tseng, now. What is the exact date?"

Tseng seemed uneasy. "November 20th, 1999."

A bead of sweat rolled down Aerith's head. According to what she remembered, there wasn't a lot of time to change things. She had a little less than a full year until Genesis would desert SOLDIER, and slightly less than three years until the Nibelhelm Incident. There was no time to be subtle and hope to gently change things as much as she wished she could do so. She didn't want to be forceful, but, she... she had to take action!

"Aerith? What exactly happened that knocked you out for hours?" asked Tseng.

Aerith ignored him. How was she supposed to change things? There had been so little time from when Cloud had died to when she had been sent back. She had absolutely no clue how to go from here. The planet was utterly silent, not a single whisper echoing through the flowers behind her. She was alone, it was up to her, without any outside guidance, to try and change things. It... was scary. She had always had someone guiding her, whether it was her mothers, Zack, Cloud, or the Planet, she had always had people to turn to for advice. Now it was all on her, and it scared her a bit.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before letting it out. There... was no time to be scared. She had to act, she had only one real objective:

Destroy Jenova.

Everything else was secondary. The only problem was, she herself wasn't strong enough to do it. Her body was weak and untrained, she doubted she could even preform basic none-materia healing right now. The only thing she had going for her was her knowledge, her information on what was going to happen... wait...

Information.

It was a powerful weapon, a weapon that the Turks could use... they could be the allies she needed...

Aerith calmly turned and met Tseng's eyes. The man grew confused, taking a step back as their eyes back.

"Aerith?" questioned Tseng with confusion.

"Tseng, what is it?" asked Veld.

"Her eyes... she's... different," whispered Tseng with confusion.

Aerith began to concoct a story in her mind and spoke it, "The Planet saw a vision of it's end and showed it to me, it want's me to change it's future."

The room went still and quiet. Tseng, Veld, and Rude exchanged uneasy glances. She knew they knew what she was, knew they'd understand somewhat of what she was capable of, the ability to commune with the planet being the key ability she was hoping to use against them. It was truthfully the only reason they wouldn't just go and lock her in an insane asylum.

"It's end? When? How?" demanded Veld.

"In less than twenty years," answered Aerith before she turned her calm gaze towards Veld before half-lying, "Jenova kills it. The same Jenova that Hojo is using to create SOLDIERs, the Jenova of the Jenova Project."

Veld went still. "How do you know about..."

She gave him a thin smile. "The planet showed me everything, Veld, everything."

In essence though, perhaps she wasn't lying. Sephiroth hadn't become an insane monster until Nibelhelm. Jenova was the true threat for the moment, the Calamity had to be dealt with. Whether or not she had to find a way to destroy Sephiroth as well remained to be seen.

Veld frowned. "I see, and if you truly know 'everything', then we cannot allow you to remain on the loose."

Aerith nodded. "Of course."

Veld blinked a few times. "Of course?"

Aerith met his gaze grimly. "The only way I can change things is by returning to Shinra."

"You'd willingly go back to the labs?!" asked Tseng with disbelief.

She shook her head. "No, I will not. You will return me to Shinra, but not to Hojo. I... have to find a way to directly counteract Jenova, and you _WILL_ help me do so. And in return..."

She smiled at Veld. "I'll tell you how to find Felicia."

Veld's eyes went wide. "My daughter's alive?!"

"Hojo experimented on her. She has materia in her hand that is slowly killing her. She's suffering amnesia at the moment, and will soon be arriving at Cosmo Canyon if she hasn't already to begin studying there. If you don't go there within the next few months and retrieve her, she will help to found a terrorist group called Avalanche that will fight against Shinra," explained Aerith.

Veld blinked a few times, "She... I... what?"

Aerith merely stared at him patiently. "If you find her and bring her to me, I can extract the materia from her hand. I also recommend you... deal with a man there named Fuhito, he's very dangerous."

She didn't like it, having to ask Veld to kill someone. Even a vile man like Fuhito. It made her stomach churn, but she knew it had to be done. She had seen glimpses through the lifestream, of the atrocities the man had done. Turning people into inhuman monsters called Ravens... **  
**

Veld frowned intently. "Do you swear to me that this is the truth, Ancient?"

Aerith nodded. "It is."

Veld looked furious. "God dammit Hojo..."

Aerith paused for a moment. "And if you want further proof of my claims. Would you be interested in finding out what happened to your former partner?"

Veld froze. "Vincent?"

"Also experimented upon by Hojo. He's currently trapped in a coffin in the basement of the Shinra mansion in Nibelhelm," said Aerith.

Veld look sickened. "Vincent..."

An idea suddenly hit her. "For that piece of information, I'd like you to destroy all of Hojo's files kept in the basement of the Shinra Mansion. Trust me on this, whats written there is half-truths and half-lies that could drive anyone mad."

Veld pondered her words momentarily before nodding. "If everything you've told me is true. If I get both my daughter and my partner back, I will do as you ask. Tseng, I want her put into protective Turk custody. No one but the Turks is to know that she's back in Shinra until I return."

Tseng nodded. "Very well. I'll send someone to collect your things at your home later."

The four of them left a moment later, making for a helicopter sitting outside the church with another Turk standing guard, They boarded it and left.

"If by chance your telling the truth, how exactly does Jenova destroy the world? I thought that thing was brain dead? How could we not have stopped her?" asked Veld.

Aerith pondered how to answer that question for a moment before coming up with a half-truth. "You can't stop her because of her Mind Control. Anyone embedded with her cells can be controlled, and that includes Sephiroth."

Tseng, Veld, and even Rude stared wide eyed at her. "Shit..."

Veld rubbed his forehead. "She turns Sephiroth against us...? Bloody hell..."

She spoke offhandedly, rubbing the spot where Sephiroth had run her through tenderly. "He's the one who kills me and the rest of the planet's guardians. He's too powerful to truly defeat. Avoiding him being controlled by Jenova is... well... the ultimate goal aside from destroying Jenova herself."

"And how exactly do we stop her from controlling Sephiroth? Focus on damage control first before we hit the source," said Veld.

She smiled mischievously. "Get in Hojo's way every chance you can get."

"Why not just kill him?" asked Veld icily.

Aerith paused to consider it. Hojo was the one human she truly had ultimate contempt for. He had committed to many crimes, to many sins. Jenova was the only thing worse than him. If he could be killed then it would be for the best, she could readily admit it despite her misgivings over killing. But...

"He's the only one I think who knows where Jenova is," said Aerith, "Killing him prematurely could mess things up, but, if you can find Jenova's body, go ahead."

Veld nodded slowly. "Very well."

They flew in silence the rest of the way to the Shinra building. Aerith pursed her lips at the sight of it, remembering the last time she had been brought here against her will. She still felt angry about it, how Hojo had wanted her and Nanaki to breed. That disgusting scientist... it took a lot to truly get her mad, but he could do it with ease.

The closer she got, the more distressed she felt. She had put on a forceful, calm facade for the Turks, but inwardly, she was wondering if this was the right way to do this. Should she have gone to Cosmo Canyon instead and got involved with the birth of AVALANCHE? She was unsure... but... she somewhat doubted she would have been able to get there on her own. Not to mention, the Turks would have been watching her extra carefully after her 'collapse' in the church when she came back in time.

No, this was... unfortunately, the best bet in regards to being able to save the world. She had knowledge that could be used, and people who would believe her because of her connection to the planet and her knowledge of confidential things she couldn't possibly have had any access to. Here and now, within Shinra... this was the only way to save the world... to save Cloud and the others...

She would do whatever it took, cross any line that she never had before if that was the cost. She would not fail the world again...


	2. Uncertainty

Aerith was led by Rude into a room deep inside the Department of Administrative Research, or 'Turk' territory. She had never actually been to this part of the building before. During her youth, it had always been the Science Division, and even when she had been recaptured when the plate fell...

The plate...

Aerith pursed her lips, reminded of how far and how low the Turks could actually go if they were ordered to. She would NOT let that happen! It was another reminder of how much suffering she had to prevent in the world.

She paused her thoughts as Rude led her into a room that...

"Why does this look like my room at home?" she questioned intently, eyeing Rude.

Rude barely raised an eyebrow. "Comfortableness."

"How do you all know what my room looks like?" she demanded, growing just a bit furious.

"Been there," was the answer.

"In my room?!" she all but shrieked.

"Yes," was his reply.

Her face turned positively murderous. "You had better not have put cameras or microphones in my room at home!"

At that, Rude raised a full eyebrow. "We're professionals, not perverts, Miss Gainsborough."

Aerith crossed her arms and went, "Hmph," before walking into the room and sitting down on her bed.

It was... really eerie and creepy now that she thought about it. The floor was wooden, there was the larger carpet and then a small circular one oh top of it. Her bed had the same type of pillow and blanket. It had the same dresser with the exact same kind of flowers in vases on it. Even the inside of the door was the same red as her home. Even the room itself was the same shape! The last thing this room made her feel was 'comfortable'.

"If you need anything there will be two of my co-workers outside at all times," said Rude.

"All times?" said Aerith, raising an eyebrow.

"For protection," he simply said.

"From what?" she asked, a little incredulous, they _WERE_ in the heart of Turk territory after-all.

"Hojo if need be," he replied before turning and leaving, closing the door behind him.

Aerith had gone silent at that. Up until Veld could retrieve his daughter and partner, she wasn't safe. If it were found out that she was here, and she was ordered to be handed over, she would be. Even after, she wasn't fully sure she would be safe, depending how things turned out. Now that she thought about it... how WAS this going to turn out?

If Veld retrieved his daughter and killed Fuhito, there would be no AVALANCHE. That would also mean there would be no inspiration for the second AVALANCHE...

Which meant...

If she screwed this up, there might not be something to fallback on...

A bead of sweat rolled down her face at that thought. While she might have saved a lot of lives from being lost during the original AVALANCHE crisis, it might have hurt her in the long run. No, no, she couldn't think of it like that. It... just meant she had to do everything right... but... what exactly _WAS_ she going to do?

It would take Veld at bare minimum a week or two, hopefully, to find his daughter and Vincent. It wasn't exactly a great expedition when Shinra had acess to helicopters. She had some time to come up with some kind of plan.

First: What did she know?

In less than a year, Genesis Rhapsodos, SOLDIER 1st Class, was going to desert Shinra. She didn't know his full story, but, in her few talks with the Goddess, she had come to learn that the man had been plagued by his Jenova taint. It had begun to degrade his body for some reason, causing him to grow a wing, see himself as a monster, and follow another mad scientist, as if Hojo wasn't enough, into desertion.

Zack's mentor Angeal would soon follow, which would set of a chain reaction of missions that eventually led to Zack being forced to kill his mentor. Aerith winced, still recalling when she had came across Zack in the church after that mission. For him, she'd try to make sure that Angeal wouldn't...

Oh...

Him.

Zack.

_ZACK WAS STILL ALIVE!_

She lost all of the breath in her lungs, and her body began to tremble. She didn't know how to properly digest that thought. It was sudden and startling enough that she herself was alive, and in a younger body, but _Zack_...

In an instant, all the trauma and hardships she had learned Zack had gone through slipped into her mind. She brought up an arm to block her mouth and try to muffle a horrific sob. Oh Zack...

She didn't know how she would handle him. Seeing him, but also seeing what he had gone through. Having to watch as his dreams shattered. As Shinra's corruption became undeniable. As his master fell from grace and was forced to be killed. To watch Sephiroth turn to madness and have to fight him. Years experimented on by Hojo. Taking care of poor mako poisoned Cloud. The... the final sacrifice so close to Midgar... he had been coming for her...

Aerith laid down on the bed, buried her face into her pillow, and sobbed... she couldn't face him... she just couldn't...

* * *

Aerith gave a start as someone knocked on her door. "Miss Gainsborough."

Aerith shook her head and sat up, clearing her throat. "Enter."

A Turk with a shotgun strapped over her shoulder entered the room, depositing a tray of food on the edge of the bed. "I'll come back in ten minutes to collect the leftovers."

Aerith reached for the tray before pausing briefly, studying the Turk curiously. There was an... echo in the back of Aerith's mind. She had learned much while dead in the lifestream, had seen and witnessed so much, but, it was hard to consciously drift through all those memories. Something about this Turk stirred a memory... she had played an important role during the first AVALANCHE insurgency. But what role was it?

"What's your name?" asked Aerith before the Turk could leave.

The Turk paused, turned her head, blinked twice, and simply said, "You can call me Shotgun. Shuriken and I will be standing watch over you for the time being."

Shuriken?

_Thump Thump_

Another echo stirred in the back of her mind.

"Cissnei?" whispered Aerith, trying to understand what she was hearing.

Shotgun stiffened, shooting her a surprised look before masking it. Abruptly the Turk turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. It occurred to Aerith that she might not have wanted to speak that aloud. While Veld, Tseng, and Rude knew what was going on, to a degree, the other Turks didn't, they wouldn't understand how she could know such things... and speaking of the other Turks...

Aerith frowned, rubbing her head. She had never met either of these two last time around, aside maybe from being watched by them once or twice. In fact, if she recalled correctly, abruptly at one point so many Turks had suddenly vanished, leaving only Tseng, Rude, and Reno for a time before they got another new member. What had happened to cause that? It made her feel like she was missing another story, something that happened _Before_ the major _Crisis_.

Maybe it was a good thing she was stopping the first AVALANCHE from coming about, she really didn't have much knowledge of what happened then. Which meant that there would be a whole lot that could have gone wrong if it had been allowed to happen...

And that also applied to what was coming up in less than a year. She returned to her previous train of thought before she had cried herself to sleep: Genesis. This whole thing went completely downhill after he left to her knowledge. She didn't know the specifics of it all aside from NOT wanting Zack to have to repeat Modeoheim...

Zack...

No, NO! No more thinking about the bad past! She shook her head violently before refocusing. The best thing to do was to _NOT_ let Genesis defect. But how? She wracked her memories, trying to tap into what she had learned within the lifestream or from the Goddess herself. Degradation. It had torn at his body and mind, disrupting his control and mental stability. How had it been dealt with...

She frowned for a moment before a memory hit her. The Goddess... the goddess herself had saved him. But that had been after the fact, after all the damage had been done and... wait...

Genesis and Zack had fought?! Zack had _BEAT_ Genesis after he had been healed?

She was a bit shocked by the bits and pieces of memories that flowed through her mind. She could see some of his battles, broken and jumbled in her mind and... wait...

 _THE GODDESS_?! She had tested Zack herself?! Well, tested with a weak avatar to be precise but... wow... she knew Zack had received some S-Cells, but, just how strong could he actually become? One day, could he have become as strong as Cloud ended up being? And wait a second... if Minerva could create physical avatars, why didn't she personally intervene in what had happened? Or were there constraints on when and where they could form?

Aerith shook her head and grabbed the tray of food on her bed, putting in her lap and starting to eat as she kept thinking.

She needed to stop derailing her thoughts. She needed a plan. She needed to stop Genesis from leaving Shinra. So many bad things happened because of that one act. If she could stop that, then, that only left the Nibelheim Incident to deal with. But... would that event even happen as it did before if she changed Genesis leaving? Or heck, if she stopped AVALANCHE from ever being born?

It hit her suddenly how dangerous meddling with past events was to the future. Each change, no matter how little, could ripple out and lead to more changes, some drastic some not. Eventually, the future would become unrecognizable and she would lose her advantage she held now. That meant...

She nodded slowly. That meant the most important thing she could do was do as much drastic damage as she could and shake things up as much as possible right here and now. Well, when Veld got back anyway. After that, she'd need to end up in a position of power that would let her counteract anything bad that happened once her future knowledge lost it's potency.

To be frank. Even if everything went perfectly, and that was: Jenova dead. Hojo dead. Sephiroth still sane or permanently dead; things could still go wrong in the far future... and wait...

Sephiroth. Permanently dead. Pick one or the other.

She groaned with frustration and wanted to yell profanities that would make Cid proud. Sephiroth in the future had kept reviving himself over and over again no matter how many times Cloud and the other's beat him. That meant she had one actual option concerning him: He _HAD_ to stay sane. He could _NOT_ become enthralled with Jenova again, otherwise history was doomed to repeat itself. Beyond that...

She sighed quietly to herself. Sephiroth was a conundrum to her. It was hard to hate and hard to not hate him at the same time to put it plainly: He had killed her. He had eventually killed Cloud and the others. He was a monster.

And yet...

She knew he hadn't always been that way. He had once been a 'good' man. Zack had considered him a friend. While she didn't know much about him personally, he had friends, he had a strong career and was considered a hero, though, definitely not to the Wutai. He had probably saved the lives of many people by slaying monsters in missions and the like. He had the potential to be good, just as readily as he had potential to be evil.

More than hate, perhaps she just pitied him. She had been in the Nibelheim basement with Cloud and the others, reading through those books full of lies and half-truths. She had spoken with Vincent, had learned much of what had been involved with Sephiroth's birth. The man had been lied to and used his entire life. It was... sad... and even further, knowing what she knew, was it any surprise he had gone insane? Especially if the 'truth' he had learned in Nibelheim had been tainted by Hojo?

Perhaps this time it could be different for him. Aerith nodded to herself silently. It would be different for him, different for everyone. If Sephiroth didn't lose his friends... maybe that alone could have grounded him? No...

No, Hojo would have found some other way to twist Sephiroth into a monster.

She ground her teeth and couldn't help but hiss. Hojo. That damn man... she actually felt _BAD_ that Sephiroth had _him_ as a father...

She wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Okay so:

First Objective post gaining Turk trust: Save Genesis?

Or...

Deal with Hojo and Jenova?

Could she even deal with them so soon?

No, she needed more allies, and, she needed to grow stronger herself. She had learned so much more of what an ancient was capable of after entering the lifestream. If she could grow her body and talents, she'd be far stronger than she had been during the hunt for Sephiroth.

She needed the Turks on her side, AND she needed SOLDIER on her side. She knew that without a doubt at this point. Saving Genesis would go a long way towards earning the trust of SOLDIER, but aside from that... what else could she do? Even if she was an Ancient, that in itself probably wouldn't mater that much to the SOLDIERs. They respected strength, and mostly, eachother, and it wasn't like she was a SOLDIER herself, they...

She paused briefly, a flicker in her memory. She recalled once misleading Cloud by telling him the Turks were interested in recruiting her for SOLDIER when they had first met. It had been a lie, but...

Being a SOLDIER was a source of power and influence...

Aerith frowned intently at that line of thought and stopped eating. The thought was a disturbing one to her. She recognized that she needed to become stronger, and that her powers as an Ancient might not be enough. But... chasing power was not something she was interested in, but, she might not have a choice.

She kicked her legs out once, twice, three times, fidgeting. Chasing power was a dark road one could walk. If not done very carefully, it could led to the corruption of who one was. She didn't think she could ever really go power hungry, it just felt sickening to even think it of herself, but... it was foolish not to acknowledge the possibility of damning herself in her pursuit to save the world. If she ever walked down that road as the sole surviving Ancient, she could do so much damage to the world...

Still...

She toyed with the thought of becoming a SOLDIER. Was that even possible? Did she really want to go that far? To be frank, did she have a choice in the matter? Could she afford to just sit back and try to influence things from the shadows? Well... maybe? Hopefully? She didn't really like having to kill things, or people...

She fidgeted for a moment before putting the tray on he edge of the bed and moving to the center of the room and knelt down, closing her eyes and clasping her hands together, she needed a question answered first. " _Planet_?"

She got no response to her prayers. Oh dilly dally, could she even reach the planet in Midgar in the Shinra building itself? She sighed quietly before redoubling her efforts, this was important, she needed the planet's wisdom.

" _Planet_?" she prayed again.

**CHILD.**

Aerith's eyes went wide. It heard her! And it actually directly responded with acknowledgement for once!

**CHILD. FAIL-SAFE ACTIVE. DESIRES?**

Aerith blinked a few times. The planet knew she had been thrown in the past? Maybe that was why it was so directly talking to her. It knew what was at stake perhaps. But how did it know to begin with?

**PAIN. MEMORY. LOSS OF AVATAR.**

Aerith grew confused for a moment. Loss of Avatar...? What did that mean?

She shook her head abruptly and refocused, trying to communicate as the planet did. " _SOLDIER. FEMALE. MAKO. POSSIBLE?_ "

**CALAMITY'S TAINT!**

Aerith winced. Right, all SOLDIERs were tainted by Jenova to allow themselves to be enhanced and not die to the Mako. Hrm...

" _SOLDIER. FEMALE. CETRA. MAKO. NO-CALAMITY. POSSIBLE_?" she asked.

There was silence, as if the planet were thinking.

**WILL NOT ALLOW HARM TO CHILD.**

And there it was, and in a near full sentence to boot for once. If she took that path, the Planet itself would not allow her to die. It gave her a more hands on option if she wanted to take it, but... it still made her nervous to think about, and speaking of which, she had a request...

" _GENESIS. DEGRADATION. CURE!_ " she asked.

 **DON'T UNDERSTAND**.

Aerith cursed quietly to herself. She thought briefly before trying to force her memories of degradation down the link. The Goddess had cured the degradation once, she could do so again...

**IMPOSSIBLE. AVATAR LOST.**

Aerith's eyebrows furrowed. Avatar lost... in response to her thought about the Goddess curing Genesis... wait...

Aerith grew petrified. No, _NO WAY_! There was no way! Minerva had sacrificed herself in the future, there was no way she could be dead in the past as well!

**FAIL SAFE. REPLACEMENT. COST.**

Aerith trembled in fear. Had it killed Minerva in _BOTH_ the past and the future to send her back in time? Oh Gaia no...

Aerith was resisting the urge to throw up, to cry and scream. The Goddess couldn't be gone. She couldn't be dead... wait... _WAIT_! If she was dead then...

" _FAIL-SAFE. SECOND TRY. IF FAILURE_?" she desperately asked.

**NO. REPLACING AVATAR. MILLENNIUMS.**

The response was immediate and deafening. If she understood right, it apparently took thousands of years to make a new avatar, a new goddess of the planet. She had one shot at this. Just one. The Planet couldn't do it's fail-safe again in the allotted time-frame. If she failed, it was over...

Uncertainty and fear plagued her like a disease, spreading through her body so rapidly and ferociously. What was she going to do? She couldn't do this... she... she... what was she going to do?!

**FAITH. JUDGEMENT. HOLY.**

Aerith went still, her eyes going wide. Holy, the Holy Materia... where had she kept it when she was younger? When it wasn't in her ribbon? She searched herself quickly before discovering it simply in a pocket. Wow... had she really just so casually carried it around like that? What if it had fallen out? She scolded herself furiously before pulling Holy out and cradling it gently in her hands.

This... this was a trump card in her hands. Without Sephiroth or Jenova active, Holy would be unchallenged, it would not be held back. The question was... how was she to use this? What was the right way to do so? She didn't even know _HOW_ Holy could be used outside of combating Meteor. What were its true capabilities? Were there conditions and costs to using it?

She could admit, she didn't know much about it. Even the knowledge in the lifestream about it was limited. To her knowledge, Holy had only been used once before in the far past, back during Jenova's original reign of terror on the planet, and those events had been deeply locked in the planet's memories out of her reach. So... what was the proper way to use it?

**TRUST. JUDGEMENT.**

Aerith sighed to herself. The planet was putting everything in her hands. She rolled the Holy materia in her hand briefly before pocketing it, breaking off her link with the planet, standing up, and beginning to pace the room. She had a week or two hopefully before Veld returned, she needed to think on what to do, on how to do it...

Save Genesis. Keep Sephiroth sane. Kill Hojo. Destroy Jenova.

And then deal with any aftermath or future issues that came up...

Oh Gaia, how was she going to do this?


	3. Cards on the Table

Aerith could admit, she had underestimated Veld. She hadn't even had a week. Five days, five days and he had retrieved both Felicia and Vincent and gotten back here. Felicia was somewhere else in the Turk area, and Vincent... well... he was sitting next to Veld in a conference room. Aerith was rather surprised Veld had been able to stir him out of his rut.

Veld, Tseng, and Vincent were the only three Turks present, no one else was there. Shotgun and Cisseni had led her to the room and left, leaving the three Turks staring silently at Aerith.

Aerith didn't... really know how to interact with Vincent at the moment. It was so strange, to see her old comrade staring at her with curiosity, not a hint of recognition. It was kind of painful actually. They hadn't known eachother long in the original timeline, but... the mere fact that he didn't know her anymore hurt. It would be even worse if she ever met up with any of the others again...

She smiled weakly at Vincent. "It's good to see you up and out of your coffin."

Vincent half-raised an eyebrow. "Chaos and Veld didn't give me much of a choice."

Aerith was caught offguard. "Chaos? He wanted you to help?!"

Vincent studied her for a moment. "You know of it?"

"He's a special WEAPON of the planet," said Aerith, deciding not to disclose the purpose of Chaos and Omega as of the moment.

Vincent nodded slowly. "He told me that the ' _Fail-Safe_ ', you, desired my aid and that I would have to obey."

Veld slapped a hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly at him. "And I did a bit of guilt tripping over Sephiroth based on what you told me, Ancient."

Aerith blinked a few times, studying Veld. She hadn't seen him to many times in the original timeline, but, she never recalled seeing him seem so happy. That pleasant and content look on the Turk Director's face, if her changes had already changed a man like him to such a degree by returning his daughter and partner, well, she felt a bit more confident in what she was doing. It... pleased her to be off to such a start.

Vincent slowly nodded. "If I can spare Lurecia's son from being enslaved, I will. It's the least I can do to atone."

Tseng cleared his throat. "Aerith, these visions you saw, and knowledge you gained, give us a very clear advantage over what is to come. We need all of the information you can give in order to plan our next moves."

Aerith only briefly mulled over her choices before deciding to follow through with her plans. "Hollander."

Veld raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

She had long since decided that she was going to be as truthful as possible. Lies, deception, they were what had ended them all up in this mess to begin with. She would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

"Ignoring Jenova and Hojo, the true crisis begins with him and Genesis," said Aerith.

Veld frowned intently. "Genesis Rhapsodos... he is a dangerous man to cross, we'll have to play it carefully in taking him out and..."

Aerith shook her head violently. "No no no! You don't have to kill him! We have to save him!"

Veld gave her a confused look. "Explain."

"In less than a year, he's going to get injured in a training accident with Angeal Hewely and Sephiroth. Because of the experimentation on him when he was an embryo, the wound will not heal and his body and mind will begin to degrade. Hollander will use Genesis's desperation and instability to influence him to leave Shinra do horrible things," said Aerith.

"This in turn will eventually lead to Angeal leaving Shinra as well and dying," said Aerith, "And betrayed by, and losing his friends on top of the lies Hojo planted for Sephiroth, he will be vulnerable to Jenova's control."

Vincent cleared his throat. "Vulnerable? I was under the impression Jenova's control did not require a vulnerability."

Aerith shook her head. "Those with extremely strong wills can resist her, but, Sephiroth's will and mind were just... in tatters."

Veld pondered it for a moment before nodding. "I browsed briefly through the library in the basement of the Shinra Mansion before burning it. I know damn well some of the things I read were lies."

Aerith nodded. "Yes."

"So, to clarify, Genesis and Angeal die, and Sephiroth is controlled in the visions you saw?" asked Tseng.

Aerith nodded. "Yes."

"Without those two, there's no one that could come close to stoping Sephiroth. That alone demands we attempt to preserve their lives just incase we fail with the end goal of keeping Sephiroth's will free," mused Tseng.

Aerith was tempted, very tempted, to refute that. Cloud could handle him, well, maybe. Without Hojo's experimentation on him, she didn't know if he would be strong enough. Regardless of the power it would give him, she would never let him be hurt like that again. Regardless, she wanted Cloud and the other's identities kept quiet for the time being.

"Hollander's threat can be dealt with by assassination, the degradation of Commander Rhapsodos however, how do we deal with that?" asked Veld.

Aerith went silent for a moment, not exactly thrilled by being one incuring another murder. But... Hollander was almost as bad as Hojo... maybe... maybe another death was okay...

She blinked and refocused. "I... may have a personal solution to that."

"May?" asked Veld.

Aerith bit her lip nervously before slowly pulling Holy out of her pocket and placing it on the table. "This..."

Vincent suddenly shuddered, a gold light entering his eye. "Little ancient, you play your hand too freely."

Veld flinched a bit, staring at Vincent warily. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to your demons Vincent."

Vincent-Chaos eyed him briefly, an amused look on his face, before returning a critical eye to Aerith.

Aerith pursed her lips. "I know what I'm doing."

Vincent-Chaos studied her briefly before shrugging. "Your choice little ancient, if you fail, you won't get a second chance."

With that, Chaos relinquished his control and Vincent viciously shook his head. "..."

Veld put a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Vincent merely huffed. "Fine."

Tseng studied Holy. "I've never seen a materia like that before."

"This is Holy, its a one of a kind special materia from the planet itself," explained Aerith, "It can only be used by an Ancient."

"What are its capabilities?" asked Tseng, interest clear in his eyes.

"Aside from counteracting the black materia? I don't really know," said Aerith.

"Black materia?" asked Veld warily.

"Another threat we're going to deal with later when we get a chance," said Aerith gravely, "That materia is too dangerous to leave around, but, it's not an immediate threat. We'll retrieve it when we get a chance and return it to the planet so Jenova can't get her hands on it."

Veld nodded slowly. "Very well, but, for curiosity's sake, what can the Black Materia do?"

She smiled nervously. "Summon a meteor to impact the planet."

The eyes of the three Turk's widened immensely.

"How is that not an immediate threat?!" demanded Veld.

"Because Jenova is not active yet with a host to go retrieve it," said Aerith.

Veld's gaze was dark. "Fine, but it will be dealt with, soon, with a high priority."

"Your going to need a robot to safely retrieve it, I suggest getting Reeve Tuesti's help. His robot was how it was retrieved in the future," she explained, "A little incentive to get him started on that project early might be a good idea."

Tseng nodded. "Noted."

Vincent cleared his throat. "Back on track, Holy."

Aerith closed her eyes and sighed. "I... don't know if Holy can be used to save Genesis or not, but, I have no other options to choose from. Either it works, or it doesn't."

"So, the future hinges on that one act?" asked Tseng with concern.

Aerith hesitated. "I... don't know. I don't really have any ideas if Genesis dies. Maybe we could salvage the situation, but, I don't know. It would certainly make things a lot more difficult."

"Continue speaking under the assumption it works, if it doesn't, we'll come up with a backup plan," ordered Veld.

"Well, with Felicia here, AVALANCHE won't happen...," began Aerith.

She blinked a few times. "You did kill Fuhito, right?"

Veld nodded. "No questions asked."

Aerith bowed her head and sighed. "It... was for the best I suppose. He's just as bad as Hollander and Hojo."

She frowned. "That reminds me, I need to see your daughter as soon as possible and get the materia out of her hand."

Veld nodded once more. "She's fine as of the moment. After this meeting you will do so."

Aerith took in a breath before letting it out. "As I was saying. AVALANCHE isn't going to happen. So a lot of things are already going to change."

Veld nodded. "Of course."

"If Genesis doesn't desert, and AVALANCHE doesn't form, then, I don't think there will be any major problems up until the _Nibelheim Incident_ , if it even happens as it did in the vision," said Aerith.

Vincent frowned intently. "The way you say it, I take the 'Nibelheim Incident' is where Sephiroth is controlled?"

Aerith nodded. "It's where everything that can go wrong, did go wrong. Jenova was in the reactor..."

Veld held up a hand and pulled out a phone, dialing a number. "Reno, get Rude and get a chopper out to the Nibelheim reactor, bring camera's to set up. Search the reactor for a mutated blue 'woman'. If you find it, call me. If not, set up the cameras inside the reactor and get out. You are not to be detected. Understood?"

He waited for confirmation before flipping the phone closed. "I assume confirming that Jenova is not currently there is important."

Aerith nodded. "Yeah, its a good idea. I'm not certain if Jenova would be there now, or if she was moved there."

"How far in the future was the Nibelhiem Incident?" asked Tseng.

"Roughly three years," answered Aerith.

Tseng tilted his head in thought. "So then, assuming Genesis is saved, we will have three years to prepare for this 'incident', if it happens at all in any form."

Aerith nodded. "If we can deal with Hojo and Jenova, it won't even come up. I know Hojo needs to be stopped, but..."

She gave Vincent a pointed look. "It has to wait until we find Jenova. We need him to track her down."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Would it not be safer to simply kill him? No one will activly be trying to weaken Sephiroth that way."

Aerith hesitated. "Well... maybe... but... if Jenova is just laying around somewhere and is stumbled across, things could get messy, and Gaia forbid if Sephiroth stumbles across her unprepared, or if Genesis or Angeal do, they too could be controlled."

"There is danger in either route," said Tseng, "But, Hojo will most likely not act until he feels he is ready. Losing the Shinra Mansion library, and Sephiroth's friends remaining alive, will make his plans more difficult to go through with. This in turn may extend the timetable on the ' _Nibelheim Incident_ ' or any similar event."

Aerith nodded before hesitated. "There... might be another way to also help prevent Sephiroth and the other's being controlled..."

"How?" demanded Veld.

Aerith met his gaze dead on. "By telling them the absolute truth about Project Jenova, Project G, and Project S in a controlled environment."

Veld stared at her in disbelief. "Are you insane?!"

Aerith frowned at him. "It's the lies about both G and S that led to this whole thing happening to begin with! They will have time to adapt and adjust to the truth that will leave them stronger for it. Those three have been lied to their entire lives, they deserve the truth!"

Veld looked... very uncertain. "..."

"We will think on it," interrupted Tseng, "For the time being, is there any other countermeasure we can come up with or idea you have?"

Aerith hesitated, before finally making a decision on SOLDIER. "There... is something that we can try, to weaken Jenova's influence and create a backup plan."

"Such as...?" asked Veld.

"Jenova cells are being used in the SOLDIER process. Each one of them is a potential host for Jenova, each one of them carry her cells to be used," said Aerith, "That has to stop."

"The President wont give up the SOLDIER process," warned Veld.

Aerith nodded. "He will if we give him a safer way."

"A safer way?" questioned Tseng.

Aerith faltered for a moment. "If... I... well..."

She closed her eyes. "My cells. If they used my cells, the cells of a real ancient, instead of Jenova's, the process will still work. I asked the planet to confirm it and it did."

Veld frowned. "You do realize that will involve you returning to the labs at some point."

"I know," said Aerith weakly.

"Hmm, we'll need to get a volunteer to serve as proof that the process works," said Tseng.

"Me," said Aerith quietly.

Tseng looked at her sharply. "You can't be serious."

Aerith frowned at him, it had taken a lot of nerve on her part to even go through with offering the idea, she was not going to back down now. "It has to be me. I have to become a SOLDIER. If all else fails, I need to be as strong as I possibly can in order to fight Jenova, and even Sephiroth if need be. I'm the only one with the knowledge, ability, and the power to commune with and get the aid of the planet. An ancient, even a half-ancient like me, infused with Mako, is something I don't think has ever existed before. I will be the final fallback fail-safe if all else fails."

Tseng looked unsettled, staring at her in bewilderment. To be frank, Aerith secretly shared in that stare. She could hardly believe she had gotten herself to go through with and say that. It was out there now, and there was no taking it back.

She smiled faintly. "I won't be alone though. Ancient infused SOLDIERs, and even the WEAPONS of the planet can be used if need be. I don't think the Planet will hesitate to call them out if need be, or if I ask it to."

"What about the current Jenova infused SOLDIERs?" asked Veld.

Aerith blinked a few times, contemplating it. "Hmm."

How was she going to handle that?

**PURGE.**

Aerith nearly jumped at that. She wasn't even praying and the planet was talking to her! Wait, the planet wanted her to KILL them?! No way! That would kill Zack too!

She frowned and thought back, " _DON'T WANT TO KILL THEM_."

**PURGE. NOT KILL. INFUSE CELLS. REPLACE CALAMITY.**

Aerith was surprised. " _My cells will overpower Jenova's_?"

**TOUCHED BY THE AVATAR. FAIL-SAFE. CANNOT BE TAINTED.**

Aerith was a bit lost on that translation as to the why, but, she understood then that she was immune to Jenova's cells, but...

" _Can my cells purge Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth_?" she asked the Planet.

**CALAMITY'S CHILDREN. TO TAINTED. PREVENT CONTROL. NO OTHER SOLUTION.**

Aerith frowned at that.

**SAVE FOR AVATAR'S CHOSEN. HOLY. PURIFY AS INTENDED.**

Aerith nodded slowly. The Planet was giving her the go ahead to use Holy on Genesis. She knew his 'experimentation' as part of Project G wasn't the same as Angeal's. He wasn't as... directly infused as Angeal was, and Sephiroth by extension.

Aerith pondered it briefly. "Hmm..."

"Aerith?" came a voice.

Aerith blanked for a moment before glancing up at Tseng. "Huh?"

"You were... communing?" asked Tseng.

Aerith smiled. "The Planet told me my cells can be injected to replace Jenova's in everyone except for Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis."

Vincent crossed his arms. "That will require a lot of blood to be withdrawn from you overtime, thus many visits to the lab."

Aerith gave him a warm smile. "I guess you'll have to be my bodyguard then. I don't think Hojo would try anything with you and Chaos there."

Vincent frowned. "..."

Veld rubbed his chin. "If all the SOLDIERs lose their Jenova cells save those three, and those three remain in control of themselves, Jenova's threat will be heavily neutralized."

Aerith frowned. "To a degree, but..."

She closed her eyes. "It runs the risk of awakening Jenova. She's... dormant I guess, right now. But, if were actively struggling against her, if she feels her grasp slipping to fast, she may become active. Do not ever underestimate Jenova herself. She _CAN_ become her own threat. She was the one directly responsible for the fall of the Cetra."

It was definitely true. Cloud and the others had fought Jenova in her true form in the Northern Crater after all. Though, she had been subjugated by an insane Sephiroth's will.

"So then, we will do it slowly, over time," suggested Veld.

Aerith nodded. "It's a good idea."

"So, aside from SOLDIERs and Jenova herself, there's no other sources of her cells anywhere?" asked Veld.

Aerith hesitated before glancing at Vincent. "Well... I mean... Hojo may have hidden caches somewhere, but, Lucrecia is the highest concentration of them outside of SOLDIER that I know of."

Vincent sucked in a breath. "Lucecia lives?!"

Aerith nodded. "You and her are more alike than you think. She's intentionally entrapped herself in a Mako crystal in a cavern on the western continent as her own atonement and punishment. She..."

Her eyes went wide as an idea struck her. "Oh! OH!"

She grew excited. "Vincent! You have to convince her to come out of her imprisonment! In the future, Sephiroth is lied to and convinced that Jenova is his mother, that helps to weaken him. If he meets his real mother then he won't be as easily controlled or deceived!"

Vincent stood up. "I will not make Lucrecia wait. She never had a chance to even hold her son. I'm going, now. Where exactly is this cavern?"

"It's behind a waterfall in a circle of mountains that kind of looks like a crater. There's a lake in front of the cave. Its dead center of the western continent," explained Aerith.

Vincent left the room without further word.

Aerith smiled, feeling giddy. "She'd be the perfect one to tell Sephiroth the truth too!"

Tseng frowned. "He may not react well to it."

Veld nodded. "Especially since his mother was a willing participant."

"Up to a certain point," argued Aerith.

Veld sighed. "I suppose it'll have to do. We will wait for Vincent to return with Doctor Crescent before moving forward. In the meantime, I believe you have an appointment helping my daughter."

Aerith nodded. "Take me to her."

Veld and Tseng rose to their feet, making for the entrance of the room. Aerith did the same, feeling so excited and happy that she wondered if she had become a little kid moving in with her adoptive mother for the first time again. The plans they had in place, the ideas, especially the last one, had given her such hope and confidence for the future. If everything went smoothly, she felt sure that everything would turn out alright.

She prayed it would... oh how she prayed it would...


	4. Crescent Truths

Aerith loosely fiddled with the pieces of the Zirconiade matera in her pocket that she had extracted from Felecia, nervously watching the monitor display of a conference room. Tseng was standing behind her chair, watching quietly. This was it... in truth, she had no idea how this was honestly going to play out. How would they handle the truth? Peaceful and acceptable? Rage and revenge? Somewhere in between? She was... a bit afraid. One by one, the trio entered the room. Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewely and...

Him.

Sephiroth.

She reflexively gripped the arms of the chair she was in, unable to help herself from growing even more nervous and afraid. Even if she was in another part of the building, watching through a camera, it was still nerve wracking.

Genesis flopped down in a chair and put his feet up on the table, his voice crackling through the microphones hidden in the room, "So, think they're still mad about the last time we broke the VR room? I can't think of any other reason we'd be pulled in here."

Angeal rolled his eyes. "We broke it? I'd readily admit any guilt I had IF I had any. I'm fairly certain that was all on you."

Genesis smirked. "You hurt me Angeal. _The arrow has left the bow of the Goddess_."

There was a bizarre sound all of the sudden. Something she had never heard before. She turned her eyes to a different monitor display, sighting Sephiroth... chuckling softly?! There was the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. It... was so strange to see. And his eyes... they didn't show any hints of the power hungry genocidal madness she had so often seen there. She had known he had been a man once, but... this... it was so strange to her to see it.

"You seem startled?" asked Tseng with curiosity.

She turned her head. "He... never laughed or smiled like that in the visions. He was just..."

She couldn't bring herself to say it, to bring up those awful memories. She looked on the monitors again, staring at the man the monster of the future had once been. Her body slowly relaxed. She felt her own curiosity become aroused, she wanted to learn more, see more, of the man Sephiroth had once been.

"Somehow, I feel that whatever we are here for is not related to so simple an issue as the breaking of equipment," mused Angeal.

Genesis scratched his head. "What did we DO then? I can't think of a reason they'd haul us up here."

"You assume we are in trouble," said Sephiroth, his voice smooth, his words to the point.

Angeal nodded. "It could be a mission, an important one if it includes all three of us."

Genesis smirked. "You think they could create a mission worthy of all our efforts? Wutai wouldn't last more than a month if they sent all three of us at once. What else is there?"

A slow creak entered the room, causing the trio to pause and turn their heads to the door. Slowly, Lucrecia Crescent, in her normal scientist work attire, walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She sadly swept her gaze across the room. Her eyes tightening, her face scrunching up a bit, as she laid her eyes on Sephiroth. Aerith wasn't anywhere near the room and she could practically feel the guilt radiating from the woman.

"Hmm, this is a new one," mused Genesis, "Looks like a fresh assistant of Hojo's. By chance my lady do we have a task from the _Science Department_?"

There was notable distaste in those last two words, enough to make Lucrecia flinch. Her eyes wavered to Genesis for a moment before returning to staring at her son, seeming to be unable to speak.

Angeal's gaze passed back and forth between the two for a few moments before his eyes widened. "Gen... look."

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you tell me not to ogle the favored gender during briefings?"

Aerith resisted the urge to snort and laugh despite the situation.

Angeal slapped the back of Genesis's head. "Look."

Genesis did as instructed, frowning for a moment before it apparently dawned on him. "Oh."

Aerith nodded absentmindedly to herself. The similarities between Lucrecia and Sephiroth were unmistakable. The shape of their hair, their eyes, their nose, their face... it all matched. Sephiroth looked one-hundred percent more like her than he did Hojo, to be frank, he shared almost no similarities with his father.

Sephiroth's face was a perfect mask, no, it was too perfect. Aerith could see faint recognition in his eyes, he knew who stood before him, and he was taking extra care to keep his thoughts and feelings bottled up. It pained Aerith to see this, perhaps she was deluding herself into thinking they'd be hugging and crying over one another after being re-united.

Sephiroth's tone was crisp, calm, and collected. "You are my mother."

Lucrecia nodded. "Y-yes."

Genesis and Angeal's eyes were turning back and forth between Mother and Son. Both were perfectly silent.

Sephiroth tilted his head, eyes washing over her entire body, appearing to burn her into his memory. "I was told you died in childbirth, Jenova."

Lucrecia flinched. "My name isn't Jenova."

Sephiroth grew visibly annoyed. "So I was lied to even about your name?"

Lucrecia nodded. "My name is Lucrecia Crescent."

Sephiroth tasted it. "Crescent."

His lips twitched upward a bit. "Preferable to the last name of that walking mass of complexes."

Genesis gave a snort at that. Angeal turned and gave Genesis a look, wanting him to keep quiet. Lucrecia seemed a bit relieved at those words, at least, until Sephiroth's eyes narrowed at her.

"I am almost twenty years old, where have you been this entire time?" asked Sephiroth, his voice calm, too calm, a forced calm, a deadly calm.

Lucrecia bowed her head. "I... I've been in a self-imposed exile over my involvement in Project S."

Sephiroth's hands tightened into fists. "Project S?"

"A sub-project of the Jenova project," answered Lucrecia, her voice quiet.

Sephiroth appeared confused. "Jenova is what I was told your name was."

Lucrecia shook her head. "Jenova is a several thousand year old corpse that we believed was an ancient that we dug out of the Northern Crater. The purpose of the project was to use her cells to create Human-Ancient hybrids."

Sephiroth pondered it for a moment. "I see. I assume then, that I am the result of Project S."

Lucrecia nodded. "Y-yes..."

Sephiroth brought a hand up to massage the side of his head. "..."

Angeal reached over and put a hesitant hand on his shoulder before squeezing. Sephiroth's eyes briefly turned to him, a head tilt of thanks, before returning to Lucrecia.

"So, Hojo told me Jenova was my mother because I have her cells and you left me?" he clarified, accusation in his voice.

Lucrecia shook her head. "I... never wanted to leave, but... I..."

Sephiroth cleared his throat, a dangerous tone in his voice. "Speak clearly and plainly. I am in no mood for lies as of the moment."

Aerith tensed. He was mad, he was _very_ mad.

Lucrecia met his gaze. "I was never allowed to see you or hold you after you were born. Hojo wanted the 'human' element removed from your upbringing. After he shot a... friend of mine who tried to interfere, I ran."

Sephiroth leaned forward, studying her intensely, hunting for lies. "..."

Slowly, he sat back in his chair and sighed, appearing to believe her. "Yes, that would be just like Hojo, wouldn't it?"

He crossed his arms and stared at her. "So then, why are you here?"

"To tell you the truth about Project Jenova," she answered grimly.

Sephiroth frowned. "Why would the company suddenly bring you back, and reveal what I imagine is beyond top secret information to me?"

Lucrecia smiled faintly. "The President and Board of Directors don't know I'm here doing this, save for Veld."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at that, a rather pleased look crossing his face for a moment before he hid it. "I see."

He tilted his head, curious. "Why would the Director of the Turks, the most loyal to Shinra, betray the company by doing this?"

Lucrecia's eyes briefly flickered to a camera before gulping. "W-well..."

She sighed. "An Ancient asked them too."

"As in a real, living one? interrupted Genesis, his voice coated with disbelief.

"The last one, a true half-human half-ancient hybrid," answered Lucrecia.

Sephiroth turned his head, staring at a camera. "I see. I assume that the ancient is the odd presence I have felt for the last week in the building. Who I imagine is watching us right now if I had to guess."

Aerith gave a startled hiccup and nearly jumped from her seat. It was like he was looking right through the camera into her eyes, into her soul. He had _KNOWN_ she was here the entire time?! She felt shaken, her body trembling...

"Why?" asked Sephiroth, turning his head back to Lucrecia, "Even if this 'Ancient' asked them to, why would they listen?"

"She helped the director rescue his daughter and his thought-to-be dead partner," she answered.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, thinking for a moment. "Vincent Valentine?"

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes, he... was the one who tried to interfere on my behalf. He was locked in... a prison of sorts after being experimented on by Hojo. The Ancient pointed Veld in the right direction and he brought them back here."

"If I may...?" began Angeal.

Sephiroth titled his head slightly towards his friend in acknowledgement.

"How did the Ancient know where they were if both were presumed dead?" asked Angeal.

Aerith rubbed her head, ho boy. "Here we go... lets see if they have an imagination or not."

Tseng gave a brief chuckle at that, but remained silent.

"Do you know... what is said to be the abilities of an Ancient?" asked Lucrecia.

"If I recall, it's said that the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients are manifested in Materia, tapping into this knowledge lets us wield the power of the planet as magic," said Angeal.

Lucrecia slowly shook her head. "What I'm referring to has nothing to do with materia and magic."

"Come now Angeal, surely you had to have read somewhat about them? The obvious answer is that they are said to be able to commune with the planet," said Genesis dryly.

Lucrecia nodded. "That is correct. The Ancient received a vision from the planet, of the future."

Genesis turned from smug to scoffing. "A vision of the future? Please."

Sephiroth held up a hand for silence. "Continue... mother."

Lucrecia froze at that word, a pure blissful expression on her face, before she recovered. "I... well... she... the Ancient, she knew things that she couldn't possibly have known of before, that were impossible to know. She wasn't even born at the time, and has had no access to it, yet, she knew about the Jenova Project. She also knew the location of Veld's daughter, of Vincent, and of my location of exile, and as you can see, her knowledge proved true."

"That's a tough pill to swallow," said Angeal, a look mixed between incredulous and awe on his face.

"I know," said Lucrecia, "I was in a bit of disbelief myself for a bit."

"And this, Ancient, wants us to know about the Jenova Project? About Project S? Why? What happened in this 'vision' she saw of the future that could possibly give a reason?" asked Sephiroth, his eyes narrowing.

Lucrecia nervously began to wring her hands together. "Its not just Project S... but... Project G as well..."

Genesis stiffened instantly, his eyes going wide. "G? As in Genesis? Me?"

"No," she said, her voice growing hoarse, "While your part of it, Project G stands for Project Gillian."

An utterly mortified expression crossed Angeal's face. "What?!"

A very dark look crossed Sephiroth's face. "Mother, from the beginning."

Lucrecia cleared her throat. "As I said, the purpose of the project of the Jenova project was to use her cells to create Human-Ancient hybrids. There were two different methods used, well, three if you count that Angeal and Genesis weren't... seeded with her cells the same way."

She turned to Sephiroth. "You were directly injected with her cells while in my womb, as such, you were the purest result of the project."

She turned to Angeal, who seemed very distraught at the moment. "Your mother was injected with Jenova cells, and you inherited those cells from her."

She turned to Genesis. "You were injected with Gillan's Jenova laced cells after you were born."

The room was utterly silent.

"She knew? She agreed to being some kind of science experiment, using _ME_ as an experiment before I was even born?" said Angeal with disbelief.

"As did you for me," said Sephiroth icily.

Lucrecia bowed her head. "I'm sorry... I..."

Sephiroth held up a hand. "Save your apologies."

Lucrecia looked crushed. "..."

Sephiroth slowly shook his head. "I wish to hear everything before I pass judgment."

Lucrecia nodded slowly. "Of course..."

"We were ' _made_ ' to be Ancient hybrids then?" asked Angeal bitterly.

Lucrecia looked uncomfortable. "T-thats what we thought, only... we were wrong, we were so wrong."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this all of the sudden?" muttered Angeal.

"Jenova... she wasn't an Ancient," said Lucrecia.

"What was she then?" demanded Genesis, "What the hell did you damn _scientists_ inject us with?!"

"Jenova... was the thing that killed the Ancients, an alien that crashed on the planet and came close to nearly wiping them off the face of the planet," explained Lucrecia.

Sephiroth slowly shook his head. "Hmph. Shinra wanted super soldiers, what better way then to use the thing that killed the Ancients. Somehow, I'm not as surprised as I should be."

"An alien?" said Genesis, "Are you screwing with us?"

Lucrecia shook her head. "I wish I was."

" _Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, pride is lost, wings stripped away, the end is nigh_ ," said Genesis, "Were part 'alien'. Absolutely _marvelous_."

"More like were monsters," muttered Angeal darkly.

Aerith watched grimly through the monitors. Genesis looked like he was going to blow a gasket. Angeal was brooding and muttering to himself, and Sephiroth was rubbing his temples. Lucrecia couldn't bring herself to look at any of them, guilt on her face.

After a few minutes of silence, Sephiroth spoke up, "I'll ask again: For what reason did the Ancient want the truth revealed?"

Lucrecia hesitated for a moment before gulping and clearing her throat, wringing her hands the entire time. "Jenova... isn't as dead as we thought."

All three of them just stared at her.

"The reason the Ancient wanted you to know is because Jenova can... control the minds and bodies of those with her cells and...," began Lucrecia.

"WHAT?!" exploded Genesis.

Angeal looked ghastly. "The thing that killed the Ancients is still alive, and it can use us to finish what it started?!"

Sephiroth looked positively murderous. "..."

Lucrecia held her hands defensively. "Please! Let me finish! According to the Ancient, Jenova is alive, but inactive for the moment. When she is active, she can only control you if your will's and mind's are weakened or unbalanced!"

Sephiroth thought for a moment before scowling intently. "Like we would be if we had just discovered the horrific truth of our existences, I see the purpose of this ' _session_ ' now."

Sephiroth began to tap the table with his fingers, impatience, irritation, and aggravation clearly showing through his normally controlled face. "I want the Ancient brought to us, now. I will not accept no for an answer. I will tear apart the floor if I have to if she is not here within the next five minutes."

Aerith froze, losing the color in her face. Oh... oh dear... he was really mad. She didn't understand it, while she knew the truth would be very upsetting, he was actually angry over being told it? Why?

Lucrecia hesitated before leaving the room. "I... will ask for her to come..."

Tseng put a tense hand on Aerith's shoulder. "What do you wish to do?"

Aerith fidgeted. "I... well..."

She sighed. "I'm going to have to see them on a regular basis anyway when I become a SOLDIER, I might as well go, and I'd really rather not get you and the other Turks killed. He is mad, he's really mad. I can practically feel it from here. This is not a good time to make him more angry than he already is. I've seen what happens when he goes off the deep end, trust me on that. I'll talk to them, alone."

Tseng merely raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and made for the door. Aerith followed him to the conference room, meeting Lucrecia along the way. Aerith began feeling a bit of dread in her stomach. She had to to remind herself that she was actually a fully grown woman trapped in her younger body and was not actually a timid fourteen year old girl. This was a situation she could handle, she was going to find a way to calmly pacify them. Sephiroth _WASN_ 'T going to drive Masamune through her back this time around...

She hoped...

_*gulp*_

Aerith walked up to the conference room door, pausing briefly. She could feel them, their presences pulsating through the door. It wasn't doing her confidence a whole lot of good to feel the collective sense of anger, hate, and betrayal emanating from the trio. Not that they didn't have the right to feel those very emotions. It was... well... now that she thought about it, it was a _GOOD_ sign that Lucrecia was still alive, and the three of them hadn't already burned down the building and killed everyone in it, all things considered. She knew what Sephiroth was capable of, and by extension, the other two were also capable of monstrous destruction as well...

Or so she thought...

Until she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Her eyes turned on upon them, and she threw away her thoughts of them committing monstrous act. To her, they just looked so hurt, frustrated, and lost, like the entire world had betrayed and stabbed them in the back. It made her heart ache.

The three of them stared at her silently for a moment.

Genesis broke it with a snort. "The Ancient is a teenage girl of all things? Pathetic..."

Aerith huffed, losing her pity for that one rather quickly. "Excuse me? Is there a problem with that?"

Angeal shot Genesis a look before muttering, "Forgive him, he's not in a good mood, none of us are."

They grew quiet as Sephiroth slowly rose to his feet and started walking towards Aerith. She stared at him, willing herself to remain calm with everything she had. He stopped in front of her and looked her dead in the eye.

Sephiroth's voice was ice cold. "Your purpose was to tell us the truth _only_ to prevent a catastrophe."

It was more a statement than a question, but... there was something else lurking in his words. _Only_? The way he had said it, with such venom. Why? She thought back to when he had understood why they were being told the truth...

Oh... she understood all of the sudden, and it made her heart ache at the accusatory thought that had to be running through his head.

"I wanted you three told the truth to avert a catastrophe, yes, but, that's not the only reason. It's a truth you should have been told from the beginning, not just because the truth was forced to be revealed," she said sadly, "I'm not trying to _use_ you, use any of you. If I had known and been in a position to tell you earlier, I would have. I'm sorry..."

And it was the goddess damn truth too. If she had known in the original timeline, she would have wanted to give them the truth and closure too. Even without knowing the madness that was going to happen. Just... it all could have been prevented if someone had just told them the truth!

Sephiroth held her gaze intently. She felt the beginnings of shiver start in her spine. It was like when he looked _through_ the monitors all over again, it was like he was looking right into her soul with those piercing green catlike eyes of his, as if he had the ability to sense and rip a lie right out of her. She crushed the urge to shiver, determined to show no fear, only truth.

Finally, his eyes and face softened and he spoke two words she had never heard him say nor ever expected him to say, "Thank you."

He turned back around, and made to retake his seat. Aerith watched the graceful motions, his hair sweeping behind him as if blown by the wind. Her heart skipped a beat at that.

"So, we know the truth, that we were all experimented on without our consent, two before we were even born, most likely with Shinra's approval. What happens now?" said Angeal hoarsely.

"Yes, what happens now, and what happened before?" demanded Genesis, "The _scientist_ said you saw a vision of the future?"

"That scientist is your friend's mother! Show a little respect," she chided.

"I haven't decided if I accept her in that role or not as of the moment," said Sephiroth calmly.

Aerith turned a sad gaze on him. "You know she's sorry."

"Being sorry does not undo what was done nor make up for years spent away," said Sephiroth, his voice thin.

"I have no right to ask it of you, but please, give her a chance, she's suffered too," said Aerith quietly.

Sephiroth merely made a motion with his hands. "I belive Genesis asked you a question. What happened to us in the future?"

She closed her eyes, her voice growing pained. "Do you truly wish to know?"

"No more lies, no more secrecy," warned Sephiroth.

"I'll... go in order then," she whispered.

She turned to Genesis. "Because of the way you were given Jenova's cells, your body will begin to degrade, if it hasn't already."

Genesis coughed. "What?!"

"Slowly losing your strength, mental instability, your wounds wont heal, your hair will eventually turn gray. In less than a year, you'd get injured in a training accident. When your wound never healed, you went to Hollander, who fed you half-truths and lies, which led to you abandoning Shinra and turning against the company. You... used Jenova's powers to do unspeakable things to those who trusted you," she said, not willing to go into detail.

She had gleaned enough partial memories to understand that telling him about him creating copies was a bad idea.

She turned to Angeal and spoke coldly, "You followed him eventually, and came to believe you were a monster, you abandoned your honor and pride and forced Zack to kill you."

Angeal looked like he had been struck, _hard_ , across his face. "I... what... I would _never_ force Zack to do such a thing!"

Aerith narrowed her eyes, she remembered the pain Zack had felt, remembered how much it hurt her to see him like that, it tore at her, fed her anger and bled into her words, "You did, and you have no idea how much it would _hurt_ him. If you ever hurt him like that, I _will_ kill you myself."

The words felt so alien coming out of her mouth, but she didn't take them back. She... the memories were just... it hurt so much. She didn't want the pain of the original timeline to happen again, to _EVER_ happen again in any way shape or form.

"Not if I do it first," said Sephiroth icily, a hard look in his eyes as he glared full force at Angeal, "That act is of a coward, even if you haven't done it _yet_ , I will reprimand you for it now."

Angeal bowed his head, saying nothing. "..."

"And me?" asked Sephiroth, turning back to Aerith.

"After Angeal dies, and Genesis is presumed dead from a battle with Zack, you are eventually sent on a mission to Nibelheim. There, Hojo planted half-truths and lies about you in the Shinra Mansion's basement. Coupled with discovering some of Hojo's experiments in the reactor, questioning your origin, and your proximity to Jenova, you go insane and she influences you. You destroy Nibelheim, and go on to try and destroy the world," she answered, her voice heavy as memories of her journey with AVALANCHE filled her mind.

She turned to Genesis. "The Goddess had healed you of your degradation and held you back as a last resort. At the final battle, after everyone else had died, she sent you to fight him. He killed you, and that was the end of the vision. There was no one left to stop him afterwards."

"So, in the end, you could say I became the hero after all, blessed by the goddess, only to fail," said Genesis bitterly.

He slowly shook his head. "This degradation you speak of must be affecting me already if I'm insane enough to believe all of this."

Sephiroth stared into Aerith's eyes again before speaking. "She's telling the truth in what she believes happened."

Goddess... she just wished he would _STOP_ staring into her eyes, her soul, like that.

Sephiroth sighed and massaged his forehead. "So that was my fate. To become a mindless puppet."

Puppet...

Oh...

He had no idea the weight of that word, how he and Jenova had used it against Cloud. Yet... it was oddly a truthful statement.

"What of you?" asked Sephiroth.

Aerith hesitated. "You..."

She sighed. "You killed me."

Sephiroth stared at her quietly for a time before speaking, "It takes a certain kind of character to be willing to help someone who would come to murder you not only to try to prevent the destruction of the world, but to help that person as well."

She smiled sadly. "I don't hold it against _you_."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Against the monster you became? Against Jenova? Yes. But not you, your not him, your not the One-Winged Angel," she said with conviction, forcefully confirming it in her mind.

Sephiroth gave her a puzzled look. "That... is a strange tittle."

Oh, right...

"Umm... I might have forgotten to mention that you all will most likely grow a single wing each at some point. Please don't freak out when that happens," she explained.

There was a collective cough and exclamations of 'what?!'

Sephiroth sighed again before asking, "What happens now then? Lucrecia... my mother... said Jenova was not active as of the moment. That implies she eventually will be. Destroying her should be our highest priority."

"I don't really know what awakened Jenova to begin with, but, it might have been your proximity, or might have been something Hojo did, I don't really know," she said, "But yes, counteracting, finding, and destroying Jenova is my ultimate goal. Hojo is the only one who knows where she is, so we need..."

"To kill him. _Slowly_ ," said Sephiroth, his voice holding pure and utter malice.

"Hollander too," added in Genesis with equal deadliness.

"I'll be... discussing this with my own mother after this," muttered Angeal.

"Uh... we need Hojo to find Jenova!" said Aerith.

"Then I will torture the information out of him, but he is _not_ living through the end of this day," said Sephiroth, rising to his feet.

"Angeal, Genesis, with me," ordered Sephiroth.

"W-wait!" tried Aerith.

They walked past her and left the room without another word.

Ut oh... situation _NOT_ defused, this could get ugly...

Veld, Vincent, and Lucrecia walked into the room, she sighted Tseng trailing down the hollway after the trio, keeping a safe distance.

Veld glanced at Vincent. "Not interested in joining in?"

Vincent shook his head. "Hojo harmed them more than he harmed me. They deserve it."

They all sat at the table and waited in silence as time passed. Aerith half expected explosions and gunfire to ring through the building... but... nothing happened.

_Ring Ring._

Veld flipped open his phone and listened for a moment before his face contorted and he exclaimed. "What do you mean Hojo's _MISSING_?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun, best way to end the chapter, ever! Can't have everything go Aerith's way, can we?
> 
> The chapter title is a two-fold meaning:
> 
> A Crescent is like a sickle, sharp. This, a sharp and painful truth.
> 
> A Crescent is also like a half moon, incomplete. Based on Aerith lying about Visions VS Time Travel.
> 
> Thought I'd try to be creative.


	5. Echoes

Aerith sat on her bed, wringing her hands and biting her lips nervously. As much as she had wanted Hojo alive so they could use him to find Jenova, she'd far rather he be dead then missing and unrestricted on the loose. While Shinra gave Hojo far to much leeway in the atrocities he committed behind closed doors, there were still limits and restrictions. Out there on his own? None. Not a single thing holding him back, except maybe lack of equipment. It sent shivers down her spine at the thought of that man's mad ambitions being unrestrained.

The guard outside her door had doubled to four Turks, and a group of high tier 2nd and low tier 1st Class Soldiers that were only told she was a special VIP. Others Turks, not to mention the Trio, were scouring every inch of the building and Midgar for any sign of Hojjo. Tseng and Veld were going through security camera footage. Lucrecia and Vincent, to her knowledge, were currently stationed in the Science Department interrogating and interviewing Hojo's personnel. Since Hojo had 'vacated' the position and Genesis had killed Hollander, Veld had suggested that Lucrecia make herself comfortable and start taking over. The woman had been... hesitant... but at Sephiroth's word that he would trust her over Hojo or anyone formerly working with him with his SOLDIERs, she had relented.

Aerith had to wait for the all clear before she was allowed to leave the room for one reason: Hojo's disappearance had 'coincidentally' happened when the Trio had been informed of the truth. Which meant 'somehow' Hojo knew about it, which meant he also knew about her. How? Even the Turks didn't have a clue, and that really riled Veld and Tseng's feathers. She didn't think she had to worry about Hojo trying to kidnap or kill her, he he had to worry about fleeing rather than experimenting at the moment, but, the Turks were taking no chances.

Aerith sighed. The ripple effect was already happening. Changes, drastic changes, were going to start occurring. It still remained to be seen what the Trio did after Hojo was or was not found. She hoped and prayed they would calm down, but, if Hojo got away, she knew they would be furious. Heck, she should be furious, and slightly terrified, of it too. Lucrecia taking over in-place of Hojo would hopefully correct the morals, or rather the lack of them, the science department had. Vincent would most likely stay at her side, maybe rejoin the Turks, who knows.

She smiled at a thought. She had already hinted at Reeve's intelligence to the Turks, but she'd try to make a point to keep nudging them about him, trying to get him more motivation, influence, and eventual power. He was the key to eventually replacing Mako Reactors with methods that wouldn't bleed the planet dry. The sooner that process started the better.

She laid back on her bed, blowing a bit of her hair out of her face. It was... difficult to try and figure out how things might change. AVALANCHE was not happening, Veld had hinted at keeping his daughter 'close', which probably meant Felicia was going to be a Turk. Like father like daughter it seems...

She hesitated at the thought of Felicia and fished the pieces of the Zirconiade materia out of her pocket, fiddling with them. They spoke quietly with an old, broken, unfinished voice. She considered it lucky Veld had allowed her to keep a hold of them. Out of sight out of mind out of a potential desire to be used. If the President or Hojo or someone like them didn't know they existed, no one would think to use them for power. She would only allow these to remain on her person... though... she knew they couldn't stay in her pocket forever. They could be easily stolen or lost on accident. This required a more... secure location... like inside of her body.

Aerith held the pieces to her lips and whispered. "Sleep World Burner, sleep."

The old voice grew quieter and quieter until it faded and the light in the materia shards dimmed and went to sleep. She was not interested in suffering the same fate Felicia originally had, she would not bleed out her lifeforce in exchange for power. Zirconiade would become dormant, and that was that. Aerith sighed and lifted up her shirt, slowly pressing the shards against her stomach. They melded into her body, hidden safely away...

She frowned, briefly withdrawing a single shard back out of her body, toying with it. It would remain hidden safely away... unless she needed it's power...

The thought made her queasy, bleeding her lifeforce dry for a bit of power. But... mere fragments of the World Burner had made Felicia into an incredibly powerful warrior. What could it do to her, she wondered, when she became enhanced? What about if she ever got the remaining shards? The thought of a SOLDIER being further enhanced by scraps of the World Burner's power, or even all of it, utterly terrified her, even if that SOLDIER was herself. She shakily re-absorbed the sleeping shard into herself, not liking where her thoughts were turning.

She sighed and got up from her bed, moving to the floor and kneeling to pray. Not to commune with the planet, no, she did it to simply try and calm her nerves. Besides... she had done some thinking. The planet shouldn't actually be able to reach her here under normal conditions, especially with the clarity it had done so with before. It had only ever spoken to her near her flowers, this place was dead to the planet. To have reached her hear meant it most likely had burned energy to do so.

 _"Energy you shouldn't have been wasting_!" She scolded.

Thankfully, she heard nothing in reply. Hopefully the planet got the hint. While she heavily appreciated it's advice, it could not afford to waste energy. She had... to be honest... very little clue how the planet functioned without it's avatar, it's goddess. Without Minerva to help run things in the lifestream, how much more effort and energy was needed? It worried her, especially the part where it would take thousands of years to make a new goddess, how much energy was _THAT_ going to take out of the planet over time.

Aerith fidgeted and sighed, unable to make herself concentrate and empty her mind enough to pray. "I... really need to relax..."

Even as she said this, she was pulling at her hair. She winced briefly, but acknowledged her first sensation of physical pain since her rebirth through time. It was... a reminder of just how alive she actually was. She wasn't a corporeal ghost in the lifestream... she had a real second chance at life...

Everyone did.

Well... except Minerva, unless making a new goddess revived the old, but she wouldn't hold her breath in finding out. She knew Mako enhancements extended the durability and life of the body, but she doubted she'd still be around in a few thousand years, winning this conflict or not. She took a shaky breath and rose to her feet, pacing absentmindedly for awhile, nerves feeling fried.

_Knock Knock._

Aerith blinked a few times, coming out of her brooding pacing. "Come in."

Cissnei entered the room and nodded at her. "Lieutenant Hewely will be coming to retrieve you to take you to Doctor Crescent. We'll be meeting them halfway and escorting you there."

Aerith nodded. "Okay."

She took in a deep breath and let it out, it was time to become a SOLDIER, she had wasted no time in requesting this happened as soon as possible. She followed behind Cissnei out into the hall. The SOLDIERs and Turks surrounded her, keeping her protectively in the middle of the group, and started down the hall.

The group paused a bit from the elevator as it dinged and opened, Cissnei strode forward and made an acknowledgement, "Lieutenant Hewely."

"Agent Shuriken," came the return acknowledgement.

The group parted a little to let Aerith step forward... only to stop as her eyes fell on who stood next to Angeal...

"Woaaaah Angeal, you didn't tell me the Ancient lady was super cute!" said Zack Fair, shooting Aerith his signature smile.

Aerith made a strangled choking sound in her throat.

Zack's smile turned into a concerned look. "You okay Miss Ancient Lady?"

To many... to many memories... of her last life... of time spent with Zack in the lifestream... of his death... she couldn't...

"Zack...," she choked.

Zack blinked a few times, exchanging a concerned look with Angeal before returning to her. "Have we met? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She couldn't take it, she gave a sob, "I'm so sorry Zack," before she turned and bolted back for her room, tears streaming down her face, ignoring the shouts of the Turks and the SOLDIERs.

She threw herself on her bed and cried into her pillow. It hurt... it hurt so much to see him... it hurt so much to see him not knowing her... all those memories lost... she couldn't... she just couldn't face him...

_Knock Knock_

Aerith didn't acknowledge it, she couldn't stop sobbing enough to get up and go to the door. It opened anyway, followed by the heavy, but still gentle footfall she recognized as Angeal. He sat down next to her on the bed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I never did ask about Zack in your visions of the future," murmured Angeal before continuing with a bit of hesitation "I... take it what happened to him wasn't good."

"No...," she croaked.

"I see," murmured Angeal with regret, "But... that reaction seemed... rather strong..."

She sniffled. "He... was my first love..."

"Ah," said Angeal, a curious tone in his voice, "But to have that reaction from a _vision_?"

That tone put her already frayed nerves on fire. Stupid stupid stupid! Her actions let him know something was off...

She forced herself to shakily sit up and turn her tear stained face to him, giving a truth in a lie, "When I had them... it was like I lived through them..."

Angeal blinked a few times, seeming unsettled, "Oh..."

She sniffled. "He was... so sweet, so charming... so protective... he helped build me a flower wagon to sell the flowers I grew... he bought me a ribbon... one of those special accessory ones..."

Both of Angeal's eyebrows raised. "Those... are expensive and rare... even I don't have one."

He made a soft smile. "Good pup."

They both shared a pained laugh.

Angeal closed his eyes for a moment. "How... did he die Aerith? Sephiroth?"

Aerith shook her head, a choking noise escaping her throat. "He... he was... captured by Hojo..."

Angeal went completely rigged, a mortified look on his face. "..."

"He and... a friend... were experimented on for five years when Sephiroth had first appeared to be beaten after he went mad... Hojo... was trying to... make new Sephiroths out of them... turn them into clones...," she forced out painfully.

"So he died in Hojo's labs?" Angeal asked, his own voice choking now.

"No... he escaped with his friend, who was comatose from Mako Poisoning. He was trying to... to... get back to me..., but he was stopped by the Shinra Army... he could have gotten away... but... that would have forced him to leave his friend behind," she struggled out.

"Embrace your dreams, and whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER," she spoke out weakly, "It... was one of the last things he said before he... he... was gunned down... he took out almost the entire army..."

Angeal bowed his head. "I see..."

There was heavy, brooding silence in the room for a few minutes.

Angeal sighed heavily and rose to his feet. "Come, let's get you to Doctor Crescent."

Aerith nodded and followed Angeal out of the room.

"So... would you say I became a hero?" came a voice behind them.

Aerith went rigged, unable to bring herself to turn around. That voice... those words... they had been his final ones... oh goddess...

Angeal cleared his throat and turned to his apprentice. "Zackery Fair... eavesdropping is not an admirable trait."

"Neither is keeping something like that from me," countered Zack, "Angeal... you've been a mess all day after you got back from your meeting while we were tearing through the city on a wild goose chase. If she told you whatever happened to you with her future vision voodoo stuff, don't I deserve to know as well?"

Before Angeal could reply, Aerith choked out a weak, "Yes..."

She heard Zack walk forward and flinched when he put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks... and Miss Aerith... as much as I'd like to take a cute girl like you on a date, I ain't gonna hurt you like that. I'd still like to be friends, but, when your ready, and not when that future vision voodoo stuff hurts so much."

With that, Zack walked past her and out of sight down the hall.

"He's... a good pup," said Angeal admiringly.

"He is," echoed Aerith weakly, a soft smile on her lips, "Future voodoo stuff? Really Zack?"

She giggled a little. "New vocabulary, but, he never really changes."

Angeal chuckled. "No, I suppose not, and to still hold onto his dreams and honor five years after having Hojo's hands on him... he's was a stronger man than I was in your visions... and probably than I am now."

Aerith closed her eyes and nodded. "He was. To be honest, there was only one man who you could argue ended up stronger in character then him by the end."

"Who?" asked Angeal, curious.

"My second love, the friend he died saving," she whispered, her voice haunted, before she started down the hall.

They rejoined the main group, which lacked Zack, and made for the Science Department. She was extremely hesitant to walk into that place willingly, at least until she saw the mess it was in. Turks and scientists were scrambling to get everything under control and in order. Experiments were being moved and disposed of, cleaning out Hojo's taint from this place. It would be reborn, hopefully using science to better humanity as it should have instead of descending it into depravity and madness.

Vincent and Lucrecia were waiting in a bare white room that had nothing but a table with straps on it and a moveable cart with supplies on it. Aerith walked in alone, her escort dispersing, and tensed a bit... she had been in this very room as a child... she and her real mom... she could remember mom being strapped down and... and...

She shook her head violently and banished the memory before approaching the two.

Lucrecia gave her nod. "Ancient."

"I have a name you know," said Aerith.

Lucrecia gave her a weak smile. "I haven't earned the right to say it yet, not after you gave me this second chance."

"Oh dilly dally," she answered, giving the woman a smile, "Aerith is fine."

Lucrecia nodded. "Very well... Aerith."

She giggled. "See? Was that so hard?"

Lucrecia smiled at her. "Shall we?"

Aerith took a deep breath and moved to the table, tensing a bit, but forcing herself to lay down. "Do... we have to use the straps?"

Lucrecia sighed. "I'm sorry, but, from what I've read of Hojo's processes, the Mako injection process can have some... drastic side effects. I'm not going to pretend to know how the Mako will work on an Ancient, nor how it will work on a female, especially without Jenova Cells being used as a stabilizing agent."

Aerith gave her a thin look. "There's nothing 'stabilizing' about Jenova and how her cells helped bind Mako to the body. It's an aberration of nature, an unnatural fusion."

Lucrecia winced. "Sorry..."

Aerith shook her head. "No, it's... fine. To be frank, I'm not sure what I'm doing is much better. The process will be a bit more... harmonious... with my cells instead of Jenova's, but Mako isn't supposed to be put into a body like this to begin with, period. Even if the planet gave me it's blessing, this... is still a sin."

She closed her eyes painfully. "But a necessary one... I can't take the chance of things going wrong if I remain weak..."

Lucrecia nodded, beginning to strap Aerith down with the restraints. "I understand."

"First... I would like to take a pre-enhanced blood and tissue sample to use as a culture if need be, just incase your enhanced cells cant be used in the process," explained Lucrecia.

Aerith nodded and closed her eyes, breathing shakily. "Do... what you have to do."

The needles... the poking... the prodding... the brief sharp pains... it all echoed in her memories as Lucrecia went about her work. At least this time... there was a bit of gentleness about it all. Lucrecia was no Hojo, she gave Aerith warnings and talked quietly and gently, distracting her from her uncomfortableness, as a real good doctor should. It made the process a little bit more bearable.

Lucrecia held up a glowing vial, Aerith could feel the presence of the planet within it. "Before we begin, there are risks that we must go over."

"Mako poisoning," Aerith murmured, "Being the worst possible outcome, leading to coma and death."

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes, but, the little we inject usually doesn't result in that, thankfully."

"No, I suppose not. Dunking in mako for years is generally what does," she murmured.

Lucrecia winced. "Hojo?"

Aerith nodded, but did not elaborate.

Lucrecia cleared her throat. "Most SOLDIERs survive the process, but, there is a barrage of side effects during, and shortly after, that they have to suffer through. Extreme hallucinations, incoherent thoughts and speech, mental instability, loss of control, muscle spasms, sometimes extreme violence to self and others, and apparently one hell of a headache afterwords that beats any alchohol based hangover, or so the SOLDIERs say. Mutations are very rare, but, I won't lie to you and hide the possibility. It's... not pretty when it happens from what I've read and the pictures I've seen."

Aerith nodded again, offering a weak smile. "I understand."

Aerith knew a bit more than Lucrecia thought. The hallucinations weren't exactly what Shinra thought they were. Mako was the processed, liquid form of the lifestream. In it was carried the fragments of the souls of the departed. Once injected, memories, feelings, experiences, all of it would hit a SOLDIER. Of course, it wasn't just human souls, but animal, monster, and plants as well. Thus the need for a strong will. Going through so many different lives and existences required someone strong enough to keep a hold of who they were as a person.

"Are you ready?" asked Lucrecia.

Aerith nodded a final time. "Yes. Do it."

Lucrecia motioned Vincent over. "Hold her arm steady please."

Vincent walked over and did so, peering down at Aerith with glowing gold eyes. "The planet will not forsake its Fail-Safe, but I doubt the experience will be pleasant."

"Thanks for the 'good' bedside manner Chaos," muttered Aerith.

Lucrecia started briefly, shooting Vincent-Chaos a questioning look.

The demon raised an eyebrow. "I doubt these restraints will hold back the incoherent wrath of an Ancient, Vincent agrees I should be in control."

So different... back in the original timeline, Vincent and Chaos had never really gotten along. Vincent had always struggled to suppress the WEAPON, causing a constant war and friction between the two. Chaos was erratic during the time, spurned on by the Calamity's presence. Chaos... had never acted nor spoken as clearly and controlled as he was now. Apparently the activation of the Fail-Safe was impact-full on the WEAPON. It was... good... to see the two of them working together, she had only really seen it before in the final battle against Deepground and Omega...

Wait...

_**DEEPGROUND** **!** _

Oh goddess, she had completely forgotten to mention that!

_Inject_

Aerith gave a startled cry as Lucrecia injected the mako into her arm and Chaos gripped her arms tightly. "Steady child."

Aerith tried to call out, to tell them to wait, Deepground was more important, it had to be handled _NOW,_ before it could get out of control, before poor Shelke was abducted and experimented on! Unfortunately, a burning sensation shot through her arms, making a pained cry rip out of her instead. She began to shiver, sweat pouring down her forehead.

"First injection is in," murmured Lucrecia, "Second will be dispensed in thirty seconds. Keep calm and breath Aerith."

Her body began to tremble and spasm as Lucrecia injected the second vial into her. "Third and final dosage will be in three minutes once the tremors subside."

Aerith convulsed, moaning. "S-sh...el...ke..."

Her vision began to blur, shadows dancing across the room. Sensations and sounds entered her mind: the sound of wind blowing across an open field of grass, the creaking of trees, the howling of wolves, the beating of a dragons wing. Laughter in a pub... screams of agony on a battlefield... the wailing of a newborn child... the too and fro of the waves on the beach of an ocean...

She let loose a blood curdling scream as she felt another burning sensation enter her arm, she heard a faint voice, "Thir...sage...applied...er...steady...aos..."

Images flew through her mind at speeds she couldn't follow. It was... oh goddess... it wasn't supposed to be like this! This wasn't like bathing in the current of the lifestream! It was a chaotic jumbled mess... unnatural... overwhelming... the souls were screaming... it wasn't... it wasn't...

Her head began spinning, the room distorting... someone was... there... glasses... ponytail... that face... Hojo...

"HOJO!" she screamed in fear, aiming a hand at the apparition.

Energy burst from her hands at the madman, only for someone to tackle him out of the way at the last second. NO! NO! She didn't want to be here! She didn't want to be here! No more needles, no more poking, no more experiments! No no no no no!

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, thrashing, hearing the snaps of restraints on the table.

A blurry form was at her side, powerful hands keeping her pressed down. "Cal...ild...afe...top!"

She didn't understand, couldn't... couldn't think... had to... had to get... away...

She curled a fist, a chilly aura surrounding her hand, before an ice spike formed in her palm and she drove it into the creature towering over her. There was a sharp intake of pain before the hands shifted and pinned down her wrists instead of her arms. She began to struggle and wail uncontrollably. Hojo had her! He was going to experiment on her again! What if he... oh goddess, what if he tried breeding her again like he had tried to do with her and Nanaki?

No no no no...

A heavy, powerful, orange glow of a limit break began to surround her, energy cackling around her... shaking the table... and the entire building itself from what it felt like...

"She'll kill us both!" a voice screamed.

She... she... had to get away... HAD TO GET AWAY HAD TO HAD TO HAD TO HAD...

**PEACE CHILD**

Aerith gave a startled cry, "P-planet?!"

**PEACE**

She gave a terrified sob. "Scared... so scared..."

**SLEEP**

She began to feel fuzzy. "S...sle...eep..."

Aerith's body began to slowly relax, the orange glow faded, and her head tilted to the side. "C-cloud... Zack... I'm... so... sorry..."

* * *

_Aerith looked up at a strange sound, blinking rapidly. Where was she... oh..._

_She was upon the alter in the Forgotten Capital, praying for Holy... that's right... she had to stop Sephiroth... wait... was that Cloud?_

_He was standing over her, Buster Sword held up high._

_"CLOUD STOP!" a voice screamed._

_Only... he didn't stop..._

_Aerith screamed as the blade tore into her, knocking her to the floor and spilling her blood across the alter._

_A deep chuckle emanated from above as Sephiroth descended from the sky and landed next to horrified Cloud, leaning to his ear to whisper, "You have done well my Puppet."_

_Aerith let out a pained sob, looking up at her friend. "C-cloud..."_

_"Finish the rest so we may partake in our Reunion," purred Sephiroth._

_Broken by his sin, eyes empty, Cloud turned towards the others, blade clenched tightly in hand. Tifa, Zack, Cissnei, Vincent, and Tseng, his single arm already cocking his gun, readied themselves. Aerith watched, agonized, as Cloud and Sephiroth murdered her friends before returning to the alter. Sephiroth knelt next to her, pulling the Holy Materia out of her ribbon. He admired the jewel for a moment before crushing it in his hand, dust falling out of his palm. Aerith let loose a pained wail at the horrifying sight.  
_

_"I give you despair," he whispered to her, leaning down to give a kiss tasting of death..._

* * *

No... no... that... wasn't what... happened... what was... going on...?

"Shh, beloved daughter, shhh," murmured a familiar voice.

Who... was that...?

* * *

_Aeirth and Sephiroth stood side by side in the depths of the Northern Crater, bladed staff and Masamune angled together, pointing the weapons at Angeal Hewely, who had the monstrous form of Jenova floating behind him.  
_

_"Mother gave you your chance Sephiroth, you disappointed her, why do you not honor your family? Do you want to suffer Genesis's, suffer Zack's fate? If it's about the Ancient, Mother would let you keep her," scolded Angeal._

_Sephiroth tensed. "Honor? You DARE speak to me of honor Angeal? After what you've done? Where is your pride, SOLDIER?"_

_Angeal cocked his head. "Pride? I have great pride."_

_He threw back his head and laughed. "The pride of being Mother's Chosen One."_

_He drew his Buster Sword and angled it towards them. "Shinra and SOLDIER was a lie my brother, only Mother hold's the truth. Accept it."  
_

_Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Truth is what we make of the facts and situations we are given. And right now, the truth I accept is that you are no brother of mine, only a twisted mockery of the great man you used to be. Aerith, handle Jenova, I will deal with Hewely's... disciplining..."_

_Aerith nodded and glared full force at the Calamity. "You won't win Jenova! Not this time!"_

_With that, the battle was joined, Aerith pushing herself off the ground and leaping at the Calamity, bladed staff held high in the air shining with energy..._

* * *

Angeal... had delved into... madness... instead of... Sephiroth...? She... was fighting... Jenova... head on...? But... who... won...?

"Peace, my beloved daughter, peace," whispered a familiar voice.

M...mom?

* * *

_Genesis, Angeal, and Aerith sat down together ontop of the Junon Mako Cannon, minds and hearts heavy._

_"Do you think... Seph found peace in the end?" asked Angeal._

_Aerith shrugged sadly. "I... don't know. I'd like to think so, but..."_

_Genesis took a bite of a Banora apple. "A Hero at the end, how I wanted to take that tittle from him... but... as he showed me, that tittle must be earned."_

_He lowered the apple. "To stand in the face of that horrific truth, to finally buck Jenova's control, to take Jenova down with him..."_

_He sighed. "My friend, the fates are cruel."_

_Aerith sniffled. "He struggled, he fought so hard, even after what Jenova forced him to do... he didn't deserve that fate. Cruel indeed... but... it's over... I guess."_

_Genesis nodded. "I suppose it is."_

_There was a soft patter of feet as Zack and Cloud joined them. "Can we get in on this pity party too?"_

_Aerith shot him a look. "Zack!"_

_He made a sad face. "Ciss is gone too, and don't even get me started on Tifa."_

_Cloud choked a little._

_Aerith's face softened. "I... know... we all lost someone we loved..."_

_She looked up into the sky, tears streaming down her face. "Sephiroth... please be at peace..."_

* * *

Loved...? She... lost someone...? She couldn't... mean Sephiroth... could she...? Mom... what was... this...?

"What can be, what may be...," came the familiar voice.

Wait... that voice... it wasn't...

* * *

_Aerith smiled cruelly at Sephiroth who laid bloody and battered at her feet. "Some Chosen One you turned out to be. Mother? Why did you even want this... failure... kept around? Even Cloud fought harder than he did. Or were you to weak to fight against your dear beloved? Is that it, Seph? You weakling!"_

_Jenova floated past her, staring down, almost sadly, at Sephiroth. "He had such potential. It's a shame I suppose."_

_"Mother? May I?" Aerith begged._

_Jenova turned her back on Sephiroth. "Do it. Then we shall feed on this planet and ride its corpse through the stars to the next."_

_Aerith twirled her bladed staff high into the air, a mad glint on her face. "Goodbye, Seph."_

_Sephiroth weakly looked up at her. "A-aeirth... fight it... please... this isn't... you..."_

_Aerith gave a laugh and brought the bladed staff down, severing Sephiroth's head from his shoulders. In her eyes glowed an unnatural green glow, the slits of her eyes narrow like a cats..._

* * *

No... NO... she... no... why...? Impossible... she and Jenova... it was... impossible!

"There are many possible futures and path's my beloved daughter, some, are far more grim than others," came a familiar voice, "Though how she could have possibly tainted you with my purity running through your veins is a troubling thought."

M... Minerva...?

* * *

_Aerith and Zack laid against one another on the couch of their apartment, watching their twin boys toss little blocks at eachother in their playpen._

_"Heeey! Gen and Geal, don't be to rough!" called over Zack._

_Aerith giggled. "If your worried, go stop them."_

_Zack rolled his eyes. "As if. I could hardly stop the older pair from going at it, this pair would keeeeeel me!"_

_Aerith's giggles faded. "Zack... I... never did question why..."_

_Zack's face softened. "It's... the least I could do, to carry on their memory, their honor and pride."_

_Zack laughed and shook his head. "What am I doing? Spikey's gonna come out of the Lifestream and scold me again if I keep this up."_

_She smiled. "Him or Angeal."_

_Zack rolled his eyes. "I don't know which of them would be worse. To be honest, I'd rather Sephiroth somehow come back to life from the Lifestream than deal with either of their nipping again."_

_Aerith tensed at his words before relaxing. "That won't happen Zack, I made sure of it."_

_Zack gave her a questioning look, but Aerith merely shook her head and pulled him closer, giving him a deep passionate kiss._

* * *

Her... and Zack... children... she wanted... to see... their faces... hold them... her children...

"It is my own hopes and prayers that you receive an ending similar to this, my beloved daughter," came a familiar voice.

M... Minerva? But... she died...

* * *

_Aerith and Cloud walked silently through the ruins of Midgar, memories of the day the world stood still plaguing them. Their friends... so many people... the cost had been high, to high..._

_"Was this how it was supposed to be?" questioned Cloud sullenly._

_Aerith sighed. "The planet still stands, the last traces of Jenova are gone from the lifestream, and Sephiroth is dead. It's... not a perfect ending, but... at least it's over..."_

_A black feather drifted out of the sky, causing them to pause and stare at it in a stupor. A shadow passed over them, causing them to look up, startled, as a figure landed on debris a ways infront of them._

_"Impossible...," whispered Aerith._

_Cloud tensed and drew First Tsurugi off his back. "Impossible! We JUST killed him!"_

_Sephiroth, his one wing extending behind his back, chuckled deeply and stepped off the ruin, slowly drawing Masamune . "Did you, my puppet?"_

_Aerith was mortified. How could he be back? The Planet had destroyed his soul. On top of that, there were no remnants... no Geostigma... no Jenova left for him to reform from. Reunion was impossible. How... just... how?_

_Aerith clenched her fists and reached behind her, pulling the Buster Sword off her back, and whispering a desperate prayer, "Zack... Angeal... please give me strength!"_

_"Sephiroth!" shouted Cloud, "What do you want? Why wont you leave us alone?"_

_Sepiroth smiled cruelly at him. "What I want, Cloud, is..."_

_"Let me guess," spat out Aerith, "To sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as your vessel, just as your mother did long ago."_

_Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, seeming greatly amused. "No, little Ancient, not this time."_

_Aerith blinked a few times. This time?_

_"What I want, Cloud, is to watch you break and kneel before me, begging for forgiveness," said Sephiroth, tightening his grip, before turning to Aerith, "And you, little Ancient, this time, you won't escape me."_

_Aerith's eyebrows furrowed. Escape? This time? Sephiroth was acting even more deranged than usual..._

_She had little time to think as Sephiroth burst into the air and flew down at them. Together, her and Cloud rushed to face him..._

* * *

She... Buster Sword... how... why...? Sephiroth revived... without Reunion...?

"The future holds many questions," said a familiar voice, "Many outcomes and possibilities, many which remain unknown."

Minerva? Is... that you...?

An outline of the goddess slowly began to appear in-front of her...

* * *

_Aerith watched grimly with despair from her perch on Omega's shoulder's as Sephiroth fought alone against the hordes of Jenova's tainted victims that were trying to lay claim to the last pure strands of the lifestream. She... had failed... but... it was not over yet. Gaia could still escape, could still be reborn again elsewhere. There could be one, final, second chance... but... not for everyone..._

_Those taken by Jenova would find only her gorging stomach as their final resting place..._

_And Sephiroth..._

_She let out a sob..._

_Sephiroth could not be carried by Omega, he was tainted. He was doomed, fated to spend his last moments fighting alone against Jenova, a final stand, his last battle, as the planet fell apart and died around him. At the sound of her sob, Sephiroth turned his head, giving her a brief, curt nod and mouthed the word 'Go'._

_Tears rolled down her face. "I'm so sorry..."_

_Omega gave a roar and began to take off, having absorbed the last of the pure lifestream._

_She held out a desperate hand and screamed, "SEPHIROTH!"_

_An orange glow began to coat the man as the hordes spilled over him and the planet began to buck and grumble. His blade sung faster and faster, fire licking along his blade._

_The last word, the last sound, the last sight of him as she was absorbed into its body and Omega took to the skies was a word filled with huge power as a new star was born. "SUPERNOVA!"_

* * *

Sacrifice... redemption... if ever a moment to feel it... for that man...

"We are in agreement, there are as many futures of redemption for that man as there are a second fall," spoke the voice of the Goddess, "Though, in some, neither happens, he simply lives as but a man."

Aerith could feel the tug of another future yearning for her, but, this time, she resisted it, struggling. "M-minerva... you are alive...?"

She shook her head, finding herself levitating in a strange, empty, white space. It wasn't the injection room... she wasn't in the lifestream either... what was going on?

Minerva formed infront of her, but appeared weak, faint. "Not for long my child, not for long. One last gift. One last warning. One last shred of hope. As the lifestream binds to your body, what remains of me will fade into your soul, hushed and silent, forevermore. We offer you this one last silent sacrifice."

Aerith gave her a pained look. "B-but Goddess..."

Minerva shook her head. "It's alright my child. This fate was chosen the moment we initiated the Fail-Safe. That we have even lasted long enough to see the beginnings of a brighter future has given us one, final, peace and moment of hope. We pray for you my child, we truly do."

Aerith floated over and embraced Minerva, whispering, "Thank you."

"Dream my child, dream. And while you may not remember all of what you see, may it help to show you a path to a brighter future," whispered Minerva, using her hands to gently close Aerith's eyes and embrace her tightly, one last time, as the Goddess's body melded into Aerith's...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Echoes refers to both Zack / Minerva / Future Echoes.
> 
> I was tempted to end it simply when Aerith fell unconscious, buuuut, i wanted to personally toy with possible endings of this story, discarding them as I went. In case you guys didn't notice, I'm not impartial to a bad ending. If this story ends badly, it ends badly, sometimes the goodguys just don't win.
> 
> But...
> 
> As Minerva said...
> 
> "The future holds many questions, many outcomes and possibilities, many which remain unknown."
> 
> /teasing.


	6. First Steps

The first thing Aerith became aware of was a loud murmuring in the back of her mind from the planet. It was a constant throb, aggravating a splitting headache that was quickly forming behind her eyes.

"So loud...," she murmured.

"You will have to adapt to the enhanced hearing."

Aerith cringed at the horrifically loud voice before opening her eyes. Immediately she winced and slapped an arm over her eyes, shielding them from the blinding light from above. She laid there, as minutes ticked by. Slowly, the whispers decreased in volume, and the blinding light spilling around her arms dimmed...

There was a loud pattering of feet before a calm voice addressed her. "Ancient, we have things to discuss."

That voice...

Aerith lowered her arm from her eyes, squinting, and making out...

She flinched to see Sephiroth staring down at her with a masked face. He frowned briefly at her reaction before beginning to pace around the table. The notion of him pacing immediately had her mind sent back to him reading and pacing around in the Nibelheim Mansion's basement library, delving into madness. Her eyes reflexively looked around, spotting Vincent leaning against the wall in a corner, watching the two of them passively.

"Ancient," said Sephiroth, his voice holding a hint of command to it.

She sat up and forced herself to meet his gaze. "My name is Aerith."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I am not inclined to deign you a name at the moment, Ancient."

She stiffened, confused and alarmed at the anger he was showing towards her.

"At what point, Ancient, were you planning on informing us of your plans on becoming a SOLDIER?" inquired Sephiroth, his tone sharp.

Aerith opened her mouth to speak before hesitating and closing it. Ut oh...

"Had it not occurred to you, Ancient, that SOLDIER is _MY_ responsibility?" he asked, "That every single new SOLDIER that enters into the program is not only weighted and approved by the science department, testers, instructors, other SOLDIERS, and the director, but by myself, Genesis, or Angeal as well?"

"I... didn't exactly know that," she admitted.

"That is not an excuse, not for you and my mother, and especially not for the Turks," said Sephiroth thinly, "They, and you, overstepped your bounds. You claimed for yourself what cadets must struggle to attain through a rigorous training and studying regime."

"W-well, Angeal escorted me here," she squeaked out.

"He escorted you to the science department, with no knowledge of what reason you were here for, do not try to pass blame onto others like a child," rebuked Sephiroth.

"I'm not a child!" she retorted.

"Then don't act like one," he all but snarled.

She went very silent at that.

Sephiroth looked her over, almost with contempt. "You bear not an ounce of muscle on you. Have you ever had physical training? Do you even know how to wield a weapon?"

"I... know how to use a staff," she answered a bit weakly.

Sephiroth deadpanned. "A staff? No SOLDIER uses a staff, it is not a weapon fitting our 'trade'."

He slowly shook his head. "Do you have any comprehension, Ancient, of a military lifestyle? Do you understand the chain of command? Obeying rules, regulations, and orders? The rigors, discipline, and duties required of you?"

Aerith felt like she was withering under the intensity of his glare. "W-well... no."

"So, to reiterate. Not only did you bypass the normal cadet process, but you know nothing about what is required of a SOLDIER. You have had no training, and thus are unable to even fulfill the most basic of duties of a SOLDIER," said Sephiroth.

Aerith could do nothing but bow her head. "..."

"I expect an answer," ordered Sephiroth.

"Y-yes, that's correct," she answered very quietly.

"And I expect you to look me in the eye when you give it," he ordered.

Aerith gulped a little, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "Yes, that's correct."

A shiver ran down her spine as they locked eyes. She was starting to become uncomfortably familiar with that unnatural catlike piercing gaze, like he was staring into the depths of her souls and searching for lies or excuses.

Seeming satisfied, he began pacing again. "For what reason, Ancient, did you become a SOLDIER? Angeal has a benevolent notion as to why, but Genesis seems to think you may have played us to grab power while we were busy."

"W-what?!" she all but exclaimed, "That's not true!"

He came to stand in front of the table. "Then what reason did you take the power of SOLDIER for your own?"

She pursed her lips, feeling her temper flare, she could not help but glare at him. "Do you think I wanted this? Wanted to have the lifestream of the planet so unnaturally infused into my body? Wanted to commit this sin?"

He locked his gaze with her, his eyes narrowed, but she did not back down. "I would have rather gone back to my old life. Tending to flowers in the slums, trying to make the lives of those who lived in that awful place better. Instead, I became a SOLDIER because I couldn't afford to risk letting things play out as they did before!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Before?"

Aerith went perfectly still, pissed at her screw up, before she lied. "In the visions."

Sephiroth lips curled into an almost smug smile. "I see."

Planet... why did she have the awful feeling that he might see right through her? But... he was said to have been a man of intelligence and logic before madness and Jenova took him. Surely he wouldn't come to the conclusion of time travel and actually accept it?

Right?

Sephiroth didn't give her any indication of an answer, instead, he cleared his throat, his face going back to it's normal calm and detached look. "So, you do not believe that myself, Angeal, and Genesis can handle this? That we can't prevent our own grim fates from playing out as they were destined to?"

"It's not a matter of belief," she answered, "I _cannot_ risk it. There are no second chances."

And she damn well meant it. The fail-safe could not be triggered again for the next few thousand years. If this went wrong, it was over, period.

"I see," said Sephiroth, "I suppose then you need to be made aware of just what you have foolishly thrown yourself into without any thought as to the consequences."

He walked over to the door, or rather, a table next to it that had a few cans of what looked like soda of all things, a prosthetic hand, and a few other weird items. She was confused as to why those things were there to begin with.

She stared, baffled, as Sephiroth picked up a can of soda. "You must be thirsty, Ancient, catch."

He tossed it to her, and she grabbed it out of the air...

Only for it to burst as her hand crumpled the can with ease, spraying her completely.

She blinked a few times, her mouth gaping open in disbelief, before she glared full force at Sephiroth. "What the heck was that for? Some prank can to get even? You call _ME_ childish?"

"It was to show your lack of understanding on just what you have attained," he said simply, "There was no tampering, that was a normal can of soda out of a vending machine. You crushed it like it was paper."

Aerith frowned, glancing down at her hands and the crumpled can. "I don't..."

"Here, shake this," said Sephiroth, walking over with the prosthetic hand.

Aerith hesitated, uncertainty playing across her face. She reached out and grabbed the hand...

_CRUNCH_

Aerith winced as she crushed it, easily, without even trying to. "Umm..."

"SOLDIERs hold within them superhuman strength," explained Sephiroth before his voice grew critical, "Do you have any concept of how difficult it is to not harm normal people when we interact with them? How much control we must maintain?"

Aerith was silent, her thoughts drifting back to Meteorfall and the times she had watched Cloud from the lifestream. Was it really that difficult? He had made it seem all so easy...

"The answer is: of course not," said Sephiroth with exasperation.

"A pat on the back could dislocate a shoulder and send a person flying. A simple hug could crush someone's lungs and break all their ribs. A hand shake, as you saw, could crush their hand with ease," he said critically and slowly, as if she were an incompetent child needing things spelt out.

"What's more, this extends to everyday objects. You could easily rip a door off it's hinges when you try to open it. You could crush an elevator button when you go to press for a floor. You could rip important documents with the slightest twitch of your fingers. You could break keyboards and mice used for computers with the most minuscule increase in pressure," he continued.

He levied his gaze at her, hard. "Or, in your case. The flowers you tend to inside that church in sector five, you could destroy them with the slightest touch if not careful."

Aerith grew uneasy. "How do you know about..."

"I made it my business to know everything about you, Ancient, when you barged into my world," said Sephiroth, his voice thin, "The Turks were not given a choice but to disclose full information to me."

Aerith felt sweat slip down her forehead at that. He knew everything about her life that the Turks knew. That also meant he knew about mom, but... being sane... he wouldn't hurt her, would he? To get at her if she crossed him?

Wait a second...

Mom!

Aerith was briefly flabbergasted at the notion that she could go and see her mother again, in the flesh.

Sephiroth commandeered her attention. "To make my point, Ancient. You must maintain a flower's touch."

"A... flower's touch?" she echoed, finding the statement curious, and odd, especially from him.

Sephiroth hesitated briefly. "It was an... attempt to relate to what you know and make you understand. You would not wish to harm your... flowers... correct?"

She nodded, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Then you must maintain the same touch you would give them with everything else, save when your true stength as a SOLDIER is required. Do you understand?" he inquired.

She hesitated briefly before nodding again.

When he grew silent, and nothing further was said, she studied him. Noting him watching her, appearing to be waiting for something. She hesitated, was he... expecting an apology or something? Or would that just 'seem childish'?

She closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath, and let it out. "Sephiroth..."

She opened her eyes and met his. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I went around you and your process like this. It wasn't my intention to cause trouble, but prevent it. I'm sorry if this is causing... problems or something, with how things work. However..."

She grew a bit forceful. "I do not regret the act in itself. I _HAVE_ to be strong enough in case something goes wrong. This goes beyond Shinra, beyond the rules you and those who follow you live by. The planet does not care about most individuals or entities when compared to it's own death via Jenova."

"Though, it is very unhappy with the mako continually being bled out of it by the reactors," she added in.

There was a slight arching of his eyebrows at that, but otherwise, Sephiroth did not respond.

She narrowed her eyes a bit. "I'm willing to earn my keep, and prove myself to SOLDIER, but only in regards to helping people or countering any threat Jenova or Hojo may create. I will not be some thug the President can use to hurt people and force obedience. I will _NEVER_ take an innocent life, so you can forget about me ever stepping foot in Wutai as part of the war."

Sephiroth regarded her silently, his eyes furrowed in thought.

"Joining SOLDIER may not be necessary," said Vincent from his corner.

Aerith glanced over at him. "Huh?"

"Veld has made it clear that he is willing to argue to the President on your behalf to stay with the Turks as a... special agent... akin to what I am, in a sense," offered Vincent.

There was an odd sound all of the sudden, and it took Aerith a second to register it as leather tightening. Her eyes flickered to Sephiroth's hands turning into closed fists, his eyes narrowing at Vincent. At that, Aerith knew her choice had been already made. That if she took the offer, she would never win SOLDIERs loyalty. Not to mention she'd agitate the hell out of the trio and probably lose any chance of gaining their trust. She was a little moved that the Turks still wanted to look out for her, but this wasn't about her. This was about doing whatever it took to prevent a tragedy, one that Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis were at the core of. Without doing everything in her power to keep them sane and out of Jenova's clutches, she'd be dooming the world to re-suffer it's fate.

"Tell Veld I appreciate the offer, but my decision to join SOLDIER stands," she said, before hesitating and looking at Sephiroth, "If SOLDIER will have me."

Sephiroth regarded her, a curious look in his eyes, his hands slowly relaxing. "Stand."

She did so, pushing off the table...

_SCREECH!_

She winced as her little 'push' sent the operating table scraping along the floor.

Sephiroth sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Restraint will have to be one of the first things you are taught."

He began to pace around her. "I will be frank. An Ancient SOLDIER is something that has never occurred before, for obvious reasons. You have the potential to become a valuable asset within SOLDIER. I will not lie however. I read the Turk's file on you, they note you lack in strength, endurance, and agility, all three are key parts of a SOLDIER. Your body is young, untempered, untrained, you will need to be heavily conditioned. There will be no favors played, or special privileges given to you, regardless of your status as a Ancient or as a female. I hold doubts that young woman, barely into her teenage years, will find it easy to adjust."

She was about to retort that she was a full-grown woman before it actually registered in her mind that he was right. This was before she had met Zack in the original way of things. Planet, how old _WAS_ her body right now? Twelve? Thirteen? A wave of uncertainty hit her, should she have waited until she was older? Another two years or so and she might have joined up when Cloud did and helped him actually make it into SOLDIER this time. She felt a pang at that, she would have been glad, very glad, to have him here with her. Even... if like Zack... he didn't know her anymore.

Though, she remembered wanting to get to know the true Cloud.

Perhaps she'd get her chance this time around.

"Are you dissuaded?" inquired Sephiroth.

Aerith blinked a few times. "No, umm... just thinking that I probably did jump the gun a bit... how old are most people when they try to join SOLDIER?"

"Fifteen," he answered.

Oh well, to late.

"So then, you wish to make the commitment, to become a SOLDIER?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Yes what?" he asked.

She stared at him blankly. "Umm..."

He sighed. "Proper protocol will need to be taught to you as well. When addressing a superior office, 'sir' is an appropriate identifier to use."

"Oh, umm... yes sir!" she said, and recalling something she had seen before, she tried to salute...

Only for to wince as her hand smacked into her head way harder than she thought it would.

She didn't know if it was exasperation or amusement that danced between his eyes before he turned to the door. "Come. I will escort you to your quarters, try not to break anything on the way there."

She bid Vincent goodbye and followed Sephiroth out of the Science Department. She chose to stand directly behind him, following in his footsteps, and not accidentally knocking into something. A short elevator ride later, Sephiroth led her into the SOLDIER floor and down the hall, passing a few other SOLDIERS. Most did a double take and looked her over, stopping to glance at her eyes...

Oh right, SOLDIERs glowed with Mako eyes. It had to be more than apparent of what she had become to them, and to her knowledge, there had been no female SOLDIERs... or... was that true?

She rubbed her forehead, feeling a little dizzy and her mind a little cloudy. For a moment, she thought she saw the image of a woman in crimson, and a young girl with twin blades, before it slipped away from her...

"You will be placed within one of our 3rd class rooms," said Sephiroth, "You will, of course, start from the bottom of SOLDIER and work your way up. For the time being, you will spend the rest of the day resting."

She was taken aback. "Resting? But I could be trying to train and adjust instead..."

Sephiroth glanced back at her briefly. "Most SOLDIERs are given, at bare minimum, a day of recovery after their initial mako injections, to allow the side effects to properly work themselves out. As an Ancient, I am unsure what exactly that would entail for you, as such, I'm not taking any chances for my men or instructors you may be placed with. You will rest in your room for at bare minimum twenty-four hours, unless escorted to the cafeteria to eat. Are we clear, SOLDIER?"

Aerith blinked a few times before nodding. "Yes sir."

"I've taken the liberty of placing you with more... reliable bunkmates, ones I have belive hold less of a risk of... indecent actions against a female," said Sephiroth in a careful tone, "It will be the only courtesy I give you."

"Bunkmates?" questioned Aerith uneasily.

"SOLDIERs do not earn the right to their own room until 1st class," said Sephiroth, "You will have to get used to it. You can work out the particulars with those who share the room, it's not my problem otherwise."

He led her to a door and paused at it. "At the earliest opportunity, change into a SOLDIER uniform, there will be spares stored in the room. You are not a civilian anymore, and should dress as what you are."

She nodded and stared at the door for a moment before asking something she figured she should have asked the moment she woke up, "Sephiroth... did you find Hojo?"

Sephiroth paused, his hand on the doorknob, and forced out a forcibly calm, "No."

With that, he pushed open the door and motioned for Aerith to walk in. She did, and then froze in the doorway, her eyes laying on one Zack Fair sitting on a bunk talking to another SOLDIER.

She paled a bit, feeling her nerves fraying. She turned her head back to try and argue with Sephiroth, but the door was already closing.

_THUD_

The moment it closed, Zack and the other SOLDIER turned to glance at the door, and then at her. "Oh, hey miss Ancient lady!"

They locked eyes for a moment, and Zack gave a start, his eyes going wide at the sight of hers. Aerith could do nothing but lower her gaze to the floor, unable to bring herself to look at her former love, who didn't know her, who had suffered so much but who had not gone through that pain now.

"Uh...," said Zack, a bit surprised, "Your eyes are glowing... I guess you're our new roommate?"

"Yes," she answered very quietly.

Zack scratched the back of his head. "How'd that happen?"

She shrugged, finding it hard to work up the words to even talk to him.

Zack pointed to the bunk at the back of the room, farthest from the door. "Erm... spare bed is over there."

Aerith walked over and sat down. "..."

Planet... why had Sephiroth stuck her in here with _him_? Did... did he understand what this would do to her?

She could have scowled as the answer hit her.

Of course he did. Angeal had probably told him all about her 'little episode' when she encountered Zack. Sephiroth obviously wanted her to confront her past in order to move forward. And while the idea _WAS_ probably a good idea, as she couldn't freak out and run away from Zack every time she saw him, Sephiroth _COULD_ have given her a bit of a warning...

She did acknowledge that Sephiroth was right in one regard. Zack would never lay a hand on her. She had lived long enough in the slums to know better than to assume people wouldn't try. She knew, considering how often she had went off alone, especially at night, that she was lucky she hadn't been beaten, killed, molested, or raped. Life in the slums was not a pleasant thing, no matter how much she tried to make the best of it. Though, when she thought about it, luck had nothing to do with it actually. Turks following her all the time were a very persuasive and deadly way to dissuade someone...

_Crunch, thud thud thud..._

Aerith flinched a little at the sounds barraging her ears. It was so... odd... to hear even the tiniest of sounds, like someone getting off a bed and walking over to... oh...

She tensed a little, sighting Zack's boots, she glanced up at him, hoping she didn't look as pale as she felt.

He offered a hand and gave her a smile. "Start over? Zack Fair, nice to meet you."

She stared at the hand, a soft sad smile on her face. Zack was still Zack, no matter where and when he was. She slowly reached out a hesitating hand and took his in hers, shaking it.

"Aerith Gainsborough," she managed to say evenly.

He thumbed behind him. "Smart alack over there is Kunsel, Kuns for short."

"I can introduce myself thank you very much," called over the other SOLDIER.

Aerith let go of Zack's hand and briefly looked around him at Kunsel. She vaguely remembered Zack, _her Zack_ , telling her about an old friend named Kunsel. An intelligent man who never took his helmet off for some reason. Her Zack had said he was an incredible source of information to turn to if need be, and someone he had always been able to count on.

He gave her a tip of his helmet in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you miss Gainsborough."

"Aerith is fine," she said.

"So," said Zack, reclaiming her attention, a grin on his face, "First woman SOLDIER huh? You super excited or what?"

Aerith gave a weak shrug. "I... guess?"

Zack pouted. "Ah c'mon, it'll be awesome, trust me, SOLDIER is a lot of fun!"

That pout, oh how it brought a smile to her face to see it again. She couldn't help but giggle a little.

"Fun he says," said Kunsel, "It's supposed to be serious work, but this clown goofs off to much."

"Do not!" defended Zack.

"Umm, speaking of SOLDIER...," she began hesitatingly, "I was told I should change into a uniform?"

Zack walked over to a drawer and fished out a uniform. "Here ya go. Hope it fits."

He handed it over and pointed to a door. "Bathrooms there, it's first come first serve in the morning, so no complaining if I beat ya to it!"

"A smelly boy like you? Showering?" she teased before rushing for the door.

"I do not smell!" he answered with fake outrage, grabbing one of the pillows off her bead and tossing it at her fleeting form.

The pillow thudded against the door as she closed it with a loud thud. She winced a little and looked over the door, thankful she hadn't broken it on accident. She set down the uniform and started taking off her clothes...

_RIP_

She cringed as her clothes split a little. "Gosh... this enhanced strength is obnoxious..."

Back during Meteorfall, or even before it, 'holding back' had never been something she had to practice. She could freely admit, to compare to other women, she hadn't been physically strong, no where near Tifa, or even Yuffie. If anything, she had always had to try really hard when it came to physical combat with her staff. Trekking across the world with AVALANCHE, and especially on her own when she went for the Forgotten Capital, had been difficult...

She glanced down at the uniform she had been given with hesitation. She nudged it with a finger, and then carefully picked it up. It seemed to be made of much sturdier stuff than normal clothing. She gave it a careful yank on the sleeve of an arm, and was satisfied when it didn't rip. The clothing looked hefty, but, when she put it on it felt like nothing to her. She reached down and began putting on her boots. They were of a larger and heavier make then the boots she had worn during Meteorfall, and were a much different change to the sandals she had just been wearing.

She clomped around the bathroom a few times, trying to get used to the hefty footwear, before she put herself infront of a mirror...

She stared at herself silently, at the heavy green mako glow in her eyes. "There really is no going back now..."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Who am I to complain? I'm lucky that I even got a second chance at life, to fix things, to give others a second chance as well. It's... what I had to do."

She paused briefly, remembering that she had forgotten Holy inside of her older clothing. She gently fished for it and pocketed it in her pants. She had to keep that safe and secure. It was her trump card, and had to always be with her. She also wanted it kept secret. Few people outside of the top of the Turks knew about it. She had to assume that Sephiroth had probably learned about it from them as well. She wanted to keep the list of people who knew about it as small as possible. She supposed that also extended to the pieces of Zirconde sleeping inside of her as well.

Aerith picked up her old clothes and turned to the door, hesitating a little. She slowly and carefully reached for the doorknob, tenderly turning it, and cautiously opened the door. When it didn't fly open and rip off it's hinges, she was satisfied. She returned to her bunk and sat down on it, placing her old clothes on the floor and sliding them under it. She'd give them back to her mom when she had the chance... oh how she wanted to see and hold Elmyra again...

"We're heading off to the VR room, wanna join us?" called over Zack.

Aerith shook her head. "No, I was told I was supposed to rest for twenty-four hours after I received my mako shots."

Zack nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember when I first got my shots, it was crazy for a little bit."

He gave her a curious look. "Though, your a lot more aware and active than most people who receive their boosters are."

He formed a teasing smile. "Maybe it's a girl thing."

Or, maybe it's because there was no Jenova in the mix, and as an half Ancient, she was more in-tune with the lifestream injected into her body.

She didn't say that to him though, she just gave him a small smile and then laid down. "Maybe."

"Alright, see ya later Aerith," said Zack.

"Bye," she offered quietly.

Once they were gone she sighed. "This... is going to take getting used to."

She thought about trying to sleep, only, the pattering of feet down the hall, the whispers she could also hear echoing... how did SOLDIERs sleep with their enhanced hearing? Gosh, people looked at their power and thought that was all there was to it, but she was quickly discovering aggravations to go with it. Maybe she'd get used to it... who knows...

She closed her eyes and massaged them. "Mmm..."

Her breathing slowed, and she found herself starting to doze off...

Until images started playing across her mind. "What..."

She grew baffled, and monumentally confused at the jumbled mess. It took her a moment to remember.

"Minerva," she whispered quietly and painfully.

She sat up in her bed, but didn't open her eyes. The Goddess had given her so many potential futures to see... as she faded into her soul. Yet... as Aerith sat there, trying to recollect what she had been shown, it all came out as a jumbled and distorted mess.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Minerva... how am I supposed to use your gift? None of this makes sense... there's to many different outcomes. Trying to make figure out infinite possibilities... it just..."

Not to mention, the Goddess had just shown her endings, not what had led to them. She had a better grasp of the first few futures Minerva had shown her, some she gravitated towards, and others... others scared her...

The sound of her own voice calling Jenova 'Mother' terrified Aerith to the depths of her soul. She desperately wanted to know _HOW_ that could have possibly happened so she could do everything in her power to prevent that. To become corrupted by Jenova, that she treated as her absolute worst case scenario. It would give the Calamity full access to her memories and knowledge of things that had happened. Not to mention a Ancient SOLDIER host...

On the other end of the spectrum. She had seen herself, with Zack, with children. She had wanted to see their faces...

Something like that, a happy ending, was what she wanted and... wait...

No, that wasn't...

Angeal, Genesis, and Cloud had apparently died in that outcome, and Sephiroth had gone insane, again.

She slowly opened her eyes. "That's not good enough for me. I... I want everyone to come out alive."

Maybe it was greedy of her, but dammit, she wanted things to turn out okay this time around! Even for Sephiroth, insanity was no fate that anyone should want.

Sephiroth...

She grew contemplative. It struck her as... bizarre... to see in some of the futures, that she appeared to have come to care for him, perhaps even love him. As she knew him in the future, and even now, she found that hard to believe... and yet... she had seen in these futures, the potential for great good in him. That last concrete vision she had seen, when she had escaped with Omega while Sephiroth had been forced to stay behind in a final stand, their lasts glances to one another, it... had moved her.

She laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. "Maybe we're predisposed to a way of life, but, we all have the potential to be good, or evil. I saw it, even for myself, the possible to become evil..."

She closed her eyes, brought an arm up to rest over her eyes, and sighed. "I... want everything to be alright. I want everyone to come out okay, alive, and sane. I'll do whatever it takes, pay any cost, and push myself as hard as I have to, to make that desire a reality..."


	7. Through Glass

Of all the things Aerith expected and dreaded on her first day of training, it wasn't this. She sat in a room, in front of her a table full of empty drinking glasses. Her instructor, an older SOLDIER with a scar across his face paced around the room. He had introduced himself as Sargent Crawford, but said nothing else. Aerith had been sitting in the room for about thirty minutes after being told to report to this training room and to sit and wait patiently. She was starting to grow a bit restless.

"Umm, sir...," began Aerith.

As if that was what he was waiting for, Crawford immediately turned. "Did I give you permission to speak, SOLDIER?"

"No sir," murmured Aerith, going silent.

Crawford moved to the opposite end of the table, but did not sit. "I suppose a dog should be thrown a bone. You did decent I suppose. Thirty minutes before questioning orders."

He leaned forward over the glasses. "I expected at least an hour, though it should have been never."

He pulled back and began pacing. "I have been told you are green as hell. Not a lick of experience in the army or as a SOLDIER. I have been tasked in training you with both. As a member of Shinra's forces, regardless of being a SOLDIER or not, you are expected to follow orders. If you are told to sit on your hands and wait, you do so until your told otherwise. Until you have actually earned the right to be a SOLDIER, you ain't got the right to even think nor speak unless told to. Are we clear?"

Aerith pursed her lips and spoke in as even a tone as she could. "Perfectly, sir."

Crawford eyed her briefly before motioning to the table. "Your first lesson. Tell me, what do you see?"

"A table full of empty glasses," said Aerith.

"Wrong," he barked, "What you should see is an exercise in restraint. There are exactly one-hundred none-reinforced glasses. Your lesson is to learn how to pick them up without breaking them. If you can do so without breaking them all, you pass. If you fail, not only are replacements coming out of your first paycheck, but you are going to do it all over again. Until you learn control, you are a liability to Shinra, everyone around you, and even yourself, in order of importance of course. _You_ are not leaving this room, even if your here for a bloody fricking month, until you can do so. Are we clear SOLDIER?"

"Yes sir," said Aerith, reaching for a cup.

"Did I say you may begin?" barked Crawford.

Aerith pulled back. "N-no sir."

Crawford narrowed his eyes. "Speak clearly, plainly, without hesitation, without a tremor, and for god's sake, don't stutter. You will be eaten alive if you show weakness."

"Yes sir," she said quietly.

"Now, you may begin," said Crawford.

Aerith eyed the nearest glass and slowly reached a hand for it, trying to be as gentle as possible. She slowly picked it up, managing to get it a little off the table before...

_CRUNCH_

Aerith hissed in pain as the glass shattered and embedded in her hand. "Owww!"

Crawford scoffed. "Oh get over it. It's a bit of glass, pluck them out and try again."

Aerith bit her lip and began to slowly pluck the pieces out, trying to be gentle about it. When she finished, she stared down at her bloody and cut up hand.

"What, you never seen blood before?" barked Crawford, "Pick up the next glass, I ain't got all day."

"Shouldn't I get a cure materia or at least a bandage?" said Aerith.

Crawford scowled. "There you go again with the questions. SOLDIER, wipe your hand off, hold it out in front of you, and stare at it until I say otherwise."

Aerith felt awkward wiping her blood off on her clothes, but did as ordered and stared at her hand. Her eyes went wide to see her cuts slowly starting to heal.

"Those little nicks are not worth the energy to cast a cure nor the money to buy a bandage," said Crawford, "You are a SOLDIER, if not by right, then by the mako they pumped into you. Your wounds will heal at an accelerated rate. Big ones, like a shotgun to the gut, will still drop you without immediate medical care unless you've got a will of steel, but little cuts and scraps are nothing. We don't even acknowledge those."

He cleared his throat. "When a normal soldier gets shot. There is a whole mess that needs to be done. Immediate first aid, rushing to medical, surgery, and a whole lot of recovery. For a SOLDIER? We take stray shots, fish the bullets out, and keep on going through the pain. Depending on the situation, you might have to keep on going even with a bullet in your gut for days on end. Regardless, a day or two of rest and the wound will be gone."

"What I am saying SOLDIER, and you better damn well listen, is that you will not be babied, and if you are expecting to, then you better get over it quick or get out, are we clear?" said Crawford.

Aerith nodded. "Yes sir."

"Pick up the next glass then," ordered Crawford.

For the next hour, Aerith went through one glass after the other, the sharp pains of the shards embedding into her hand, fishing the pieces out, wiping her hands off, and try again. She kept hoping Crawford would speak, offer some trick or suggestion on how to better do this, but he remained silent, watching her critically. Aerith did her best to not grow frustrated, she knew it would only make it harder, but, she was down to the last thirty without any success. She stopped picking them up and stared at the remaining glasses, eyes furrowed and thinking.

"There's gotta be some trick to it," muttered Aerith.

Crawford scoffed. "Trick? There is no 'trick'. It is plain old and simple practice. If you think you can get the hang of it that quickly, you are fooling yourself."

"So I'm expected to fail?" she clarified.

Crawford frowned. "You are expected to try until you succeed."

He grinned. "Though I imagine we will be down several hundred glasses and half of your first paycheck before you do."

Aerith shrugged and went for the next glass. "I don't care about money," and proceeded to accidentally break that one too.

Crawford laughed, though, it was more like a barking laughter. "Then you haven't had a chance to dine in our oh so glorious Shinra grade cafeteria. Let me tell you something SOLDIER, most SOLDIERs spend most of their money on either take out, eating out, or if you become 2nd Class and get a shared room with a kitchen, buying their own food. There is a reason for this, the food cooked for us at Shinra is highly nutritious, but, completely tasteless if not worse."

Aerith stored that little tid-bit away and continued trying to pick up glasses, shattering them over and over again until there was none left.

Crawford briefly left before returning with a broom and a dustbin. "Clean up SOLDIER and I'll go get the next set. I expect this floor shard free. If I can not walk across it barefoot without glass getting stuck in my foot then when we begin your physical training you will regret it. Am I clear SOLDIER?"

"Yes sir," said Aerith.

Aerith waited until he left before giving out an extremely frustrated sigh. "Sir sir sir sir sir. How in the world did Zack put up with this?"

She grumbled to herself as she started sweeping up the glass floor. "This is obnoxious. Maybe I should have been a Turk instead..."

She frowned briefly. "On second thought, considering what they do, _no_."

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I still can't believe Reno dropped the plate on Sector Seven just like that. I could never be that cold blooded..."

Aerith froze, a tingling sensation running down her spine. She stood upright and glanced around, confused. It felt like someone had just been staring directly at her. Her eyes flickered to the upper corners of the room, but she didn't see any cameras or anything. Strange...

She shrugged it off and resumed cleaning...

* * *

Sephiroth's lips curled into a smug grin as he stared through the looking glass into the room Aerith was in.

"So... why are we watching the Ancient break glasses and clean up?" said Genesis, his voice exasperated, "She's mildly interesting simply because of what she is, but not to this degree."

"For that very moment," said Sephiroth offhanded, "When she's alone, she reveals more than she intends."

"Yes, the Turks are cold blooded killers, what of it?" said Genesis, not caring in the slightest.

"That's not the point Genesis," muttered Angeal, a heavy frown on his face, "The Turk's don't just do things like that without a purpose. Why would they have crushed the entire Sector Seven?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" said Genesis before giving Sephiroth a smug smile, "Or do you believe that she is hiding something hmm? Not the innocent trustworthy little flower one would think her to be, as I said."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "I never said she wasn't hiding something Genesis. To your point, if asked, she probably would tell. That of course ignores the point that she would want to know why we are asking, and that would reveal that we are watching her."

He gave Angeal a pointed look. "And try to refrain from staring at her directly when she says something like that. This room may be shielded, but a warrior's sense can work around that."

"Yes, a curious thing isn't it," said Genesis, "She _isn't_ a warrior, yet had that reaction, felt and knew someone was watching her. That's something that ought to have developed over a period of time, perhaps in a war, or a long journey filled with strife. Perhaps it's from being an Ancient, but somehow I'm not so sure."

"According to what Seph got out of the Turks, she's been living in the slums, she'd have to keep her eyes open and senses peeled," offered Angeal.

Genesis snorted. "Ah yes, dreaded pickpockets, I must certainly keep my eyes peeled lest I lose a few coins."

Sephiroth didn't pay attention to their banter, though he could admit Genesis did have a point. She shouldn't have developed such a sense yet. He doubted she could pick up such a trait from her visions. Perhaps it was indeed because she was part Ancient. Perhaps not. Just another curious little observation about her. He was starting to make a collection out of them.

There was a heavy sigh from the room as Aerith dumped a dustbin full of glass into a trash bin and stared down it. "Cloud, Zack, how the heck did you make it seem so easy?"

"Cloud?" murmured Sephiroth.

"Oh, we got another name now," said Genesis, rolling his eyes, "Lovely."

"I'll go through our records for a SOLDIER named 'Cloud'," offered Angeal, fishing out his PHS, "I wonder if this was the 'second love' she mentioned."

Sephiroth nodded, but didn't turn to face him. He watched Aerith carefully, not fully with his gaze, but out of the corner of his eyes. When she was alone, she seemed to move with an odd heaviness, an odd weight, on her. Her shoulder's slumped, brooding. That weight wasn't something a young teenage girl shouldn't have. To be frank, from what little interactions he had with her, she often seemed much older than she appeared. So unlike what the Turks had noted about her in her personality profile. In fact, there were quite a lot of inconsistency with their profile and the girl he saw now.

Could a simple vision, even if she supposedly lived through it, inflict changes that should have taken years to happen naturally? The whole thing smelt fishy, but not in the usual sense. He did not believe she was lying per say. But she was clearly hiding something in what she had told them. He had no concrete theories that weren't completely farfetched, but he threw no theory out. He had no experience with the Ancients, he knew very little of what they were and what they could do.

He would correct that lack of information soon, even if she was the last Ancient, a hybrid one at that, and the only one who that information would be useful against.

"We ought to be out hunting Hojo," said Genesis dryly.

That drew Sephiroth's attention, and annoyance. "Hojo could be anywhere in the world right now. Looking for him blindly is foolish."

"He had to have had hidden laboratories somewhere, mad scientist and all" said Genesis dryly, "I'm sure there are records of them somewhere."

"Yes, and by the time we find them, he will have already collected what he needed from them and moved to a new location to set himself up," said Sephiroth, "Hojo is many things, but an idiot is unfortunately not one of them. Unless we have a lead, our part to play in the hunt is over. The Turks are in charge of the hunt, and considering the raw gratitude Veld obviously feels to the Ancient, they won't stop anytime soon."

Genesis nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowing in thought, but said nothing else.

Yes, it was a curious thing, to see such a change in the Turk Director. That extra spring in his step. The concealed smile that the man had to force himself to try to not to allow to break through his normally controlled and hardened face. The increased patience. To have his daughter and his partner back had... what was the right word to use? Changed him? Healed him? He wasn't quite sure. But the Turks had certainly noticed it of their director, and what made their director happy, made them happy. The Ancient would not lack allies out of the Turk Department. That alone was a very dangerous advantage in the Ancient's favor.

On the note of Veld's partner...

Something was very _off_ about Vincent Valentine. Whatever Hojo had done to the man changed him. When Sephiroth had briefly met the man, and the man's eyes had flickered gold ever so briefly, he actually felt danger. Few people he had met could trigger any kind of warning sense from him. Genesis and Angeal he knew to respect. Hojo he knew to be wary of. But Vincent Valentine?

He felt dangerous, actually dangerous.

He'd have to keep one eye on the man. He wondered if the man could wield a sword. He always hungered for a good challenge.

"Alright SOLDIER, here's the next batch," came Sargent Crawford's voice.

Sephiroth watched as the man wheeled in a cart of one hundred stacked drinking glasses into the room and began setting them on the table slowly, one at a time.

Genesis scoffed. "Why not just have her pluck them off the cart, this is a waste of time."

"Patience Genesis, it's part of the lesson," said Sephiroth, "It's to show her what can be done. He sets each glass on the table, proving and showing how easily he does so. There will be not one broken glass, not even a crack when he is done, compared to the full one-hundred she just broke."

Sephiroth grew amused. "And if you were paying attention, you'd see the Ancient watching his every moving, as if trying to decipher some secret method."

Angeal chuckled. "It's kind of funny in a way. Perhaps we should use this method as a part of the actual training new SOLDIERs get. It would be a good laugh."

"Yes, wonder how many your puppy would have broken fresh from his mako shots," said Genesis dryly.

"A few hundred at least," said Angeal, his eyes on his PHS, flicking through some file or the other.

A minute later Angeal spoke, "There is no 'Cloud' currently in SOLDIER."

Genesis shrugged. "Perhaps a future SOLDIER then."

"Perhaps, and yet, there is something that makes me question that," said Sephiroth, "I quote: 'Sir sir sir sir sir. How in the world did Zack put up with this.' You notice she did not say Zack and Cloud, while she paired them together while alluded to having enhanced strength."

Angeal whistled a little. "Good catch."

"She might have just forgotten to say his name," said Genesis, though Sephiroth could see the man trying to work out the possible implications in his mind.

"Perhaps," said Sephiroth, but didn't say anything else.

There were a few possibilities of why this 'Cloud' was not associated with her 'sir' rant. Perhaps he had joined SOLDIER and then gone AWOL at some point. Perhaps he joined and never respected the authority of his superiors, he knew a few SOLDIERs like that. Perhaps he joined to late in the visions she saw, dying to the mayhem of a future where the three of them in this room went mad in one form or another. Perhaps he was exposed to Mako and got his enhancements that way, though, that was exceedingly rare to an inane degree, uncontrolled mako exposures or injections were almost always failure. There was also the unfortunate possibility that this 'Cloud' had the ill fortune of being one of Hojo's unwilling abducted experiments.

He resisted the urge to shudder at that last thought and hoped he was wrong. He would never wish that on anyone.

Sephiroth's ears twitched at the sound of glass shattering and the Ancient cursing under her breath.

"So, how many do you think she'll go through?" said Genesis dryly.

"Depends on how frustrated she gets," said Angeal, "Another hundred or so if she keeps her cool. Much more if she doesn't. For someone green like her, frustration will make this far more difficult than it should be."

"Fifty more," said Sephiroth.

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "That quickly?"

"She's getting the glasses closer to herself each time," said Sephiroth, "She is for one, not male. Not to be biased against or towards a gender, but, females are said to have a more delicate touch. This one in particular was said to be gentle, and handled flowers in her daily life. She is unused to this strength, but she will adapt quickly, if only for the sake of not wishing to harm others."

Genesis scoffed. "Lovely, we have a flower loving SOLDIER. Our reputation will never be the same. _Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, pride is lost, wings stripped away, the end is nigh_."

Angeal laughed, and Sephiroth allowed himself a soft chuckle.

It turned out Sephiroth was wrong in his assumptions. Not even twenty glasses later...

There was a squeal of delight from Aerith, holding a glass up a bit in front of her chest. "I did it!"

_Shatter_

"Dammit!" swore Aerith.

"Ha," said Crawford, "Not bad SOLDIER, but you still have a way to go. Losing focus even for a second and you can lose control of yourself. It will come as second nature in time, but you still need to be mindful of your strength when around civilians."

"Also, do not _ever_ ," said Crawford, "Let me hear you squeal like that again. It's unbecoming of a SOLDIER."

"Yes sir," said Aerith bashfully, an embarrassed red spreading across her face.

Sephiroth mad a ticking noise with his tongue. "Unfortunate, we wont have an opportunity to see her alone and speaking unguarded this session."

"We could call Crawford away and make the opportunity," suggested Angeal.

Sephiroth considered it before shaking his head. "We will be patient. We have already learned something this session, and there will be plenty more to come. We will learn more, if not from watching her train, then through her interactions with us, with others, and with Zackery."

Angeal frowned and crossed his arms. "I still don't like that you did that Sephiroth. Asking Zack to spy on her?"

"It was not a request to 'spy'," said Sephiroth, "But to be observant. He is not to press her about what she saw in her 'visions', but if he happens to overhear anything important..."

Angeal sighed. "You are using her connection to him in her visions against her Seph, I don't approve of it."

Sephiroth shrugged. "That is your choice, but beyond that, she cannot have such reactions as the one she had when she first met him on a regular basis. She will have to learn to deal with him."

"I still think you could just go and ask her," said Genesis dryly, "She'd probably fold and spill her guts easily enough. Doesn't seem like the type that likes to or is very good at keeping something secret. Its far to obvious to tell she's hiding something, and that's beyond her not giving all the details of her visions, just the major stuff concerning us, and even that isn't in full detail."

"Perhaps," said Sephiroth.

"Ah, but of course, I forget, you just love your puzzles don't you?" said Genesis, "And straight up asking her would be cheating, wouldn't it?"

Sephiroth's lips curled into an amused smile, but he didn't answer his friend. Besides...

He frowned. "She already did me a unfathomable service. Asking more from her when she gave me the opportunity to change my fate is something I will not do."

Genesis and Angeal went silent at that.

Her gift to him, to them, was the one and only reason he had allowed her into SOLDIER when she had unknowingly gone behind their backs to get a Mako injection and become one of them. What she had warned him of...

To go mad, to be the one who ended the world was a grim fate. But beyond that, what truly horrified him was the fact that Genesis, his friend, had been sent against him at the end, and he had apparently killed him, _without a second thought_. The Ancient had not alluded to some epic or remorseful battle. She simply stated Genesis had died, said almost like an afterthought. While he could respect Genesis's strength, if Sephiroth cut loose, he knew his friend wouldn't stand a chance.

The notion of really hurting his friend _hurt_. People called him cold, but that wasn't exactly true. He could admit, he was not a warm 'bubbly' man like Zack, and never desired to be so, but he would give respect to those who deserved it. He simply didn't know people, most people made no effort to see him as anything but an object to be admired, feared, or used. If someone couldn't bring themselves to try and get around that to truly befriend him, for it was on them to do so as he certainly did not need to be the one to initiate such a thing, then they were not worth the effort to get to know on a level that he did with Angeal and Genesis...

Genesis might be insufferable at times, but, that he had murdered his friend in cold blood, driven by madness or not, it shook him...

Sephiroth forced himself to push the thought away. He'd brood to himself alone later. He refocused in time to see the Ancient successfully hold a glass up in the air without breaking it.

"Good, now, set it back down," said Crawford smugly.

Aerith winced a little before slowly trying to do so...

And a crack spread along the glass as she set it down a tad to hard in the table, causing it to rattle, and one of the glasses on the edge to fall off and shatter.

"Again," ordered Crawford.

"So, are we done then?" said Genesis, drawing Sephiroth's attention.

Sephiroth glanced briefly back at him. "You can go if you want."

Genesis took his leave. "Have 'fun' with your Ancient puzzle."

Angeal slowly shook his head and stood up. "Ought to go back to training the pup. I'll see you later Seph."

Sephiroth nodded. "Very well."

He stood alone, observing the Ancient. Such a conundrum this one was. Her odd presence. The inconsistencies with what was known of her prior to her 'visions' and her now. The determination she showed at times, even for this simple little exercise. He recalled how she had stood up to him when he was calling her out for joining SOLDIER the way she did...

* * *

_The Ancient closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath, and let it out. "Sephiroth..."_

_She opened her eyes and met his. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I went around you and your process like this. It wasn't my intention to cause trouble, but prevent it. I'm sorry if this is causing... problems or something, with how things work. However..."_

_She grew a bit forceful. "I do not regret the act in itself. I HAVE to be strong enough in case something goes wrong. This goes beyond Shinra, beyond the rules you and those who follow you live by. The planet does not care about most individuals or entities when compared to it's own death via Jenova."_

_"Though, it is very unhappy with the mako continually being bled out of it by the reactors," she added in._

_Sephiroth slightly arched his eyebrows, but did not respond._

_She narrowed her eyes a bit. "I'm willing to earn my keep, and prove myself to SOLDIER, but only in regards to helping people or countering any threat Jenova or Hojo may create. I will not be some thug the President can use to hurt people and force obedience. I will NEVER take an innocent life, so you can forget about me ever stepping foot in Wutai as part of the war."_

* * *

Acknowledging her need to prove herself, but putting her foot down, directly showing defiance against him. No, not defiance, drawing a line and standing for what she believed in. She intrigued him, he could admit that. He'd be watching her carefully. For now, as he strode out of the observation room, he'd allow her the privacy of her small victory today, content with pondering what he had learned about and from her and what it could mean...

* * *

Aerith, _finally_ in her own opinion, managed to lift a glass and set it down on the table.

"Good," said Crawford, "Now, I want you to do it for each and every remaining glass. You are to move them all to the other end of the table."

Aerith resisted the urge to groan. It was one task after another with this guy. Even if it was just moving glasses, he was kind of a slave driver. Or who knows, maybe all SOLDIER instructors were like this. Oh well, she supposed it was good practice for her. She could admit, she was kind of embarrassed about how good it felt to just hold up a glass without shattering it. Simply put, after shattering so many of the blasted things, it scared her to think of what would have happened if she tried to hold a baby, or tend to someone injured. She'd have hurt them, easily, maybe even killed them on accident.

Aerith carefully went about Crawford's task, only shattering a few more before she put the remaining at the end of the table.

"Now, pick one up, and pass it back and forth between your hands," he ordered.

Ugh...

Task by task, hour by hour, Crawford made her perform one act after the other repentantly. Tossing and catching drinking glasses up in the air. Running around the room with one in her hand. Doing the opposite of trying not to break them, but to see if she could practice slightly squeezing them harder without breaking them. He said that exercise was in-case someone pissed her off at a lunch or dinner, didn't want to shatter glasses in public if she got a little mad as it looked bad in the media. She went through roughly another hundred glasses and dozens of exercises before they were interrupted...

By Aerith's growling stomach.

"Ha, suppose that'll do for now," said Crawford, "Go get some grub SOLDIER, after lunch, I expect you back here for more."

"But... I did the exercise," said Aerith.

Crawford scoffed. "'Congratulations' you managed to pick up a glass and do some tricks with it. If you think that's close to enough then you are sorely mistaken. Next you get to practice shaking hands. Let me tell you SOLDIER, break any of them, and well... I suggest not doing so to begin with. Your dismissed SOLDIER, unless you want to skip eating."

"No sir," said Aerith.

"Thought not, now git," said Crawford, "I'll clean up the mess."

Without a further word, Aerith left, hungry and eager to eat, but slightly terrified of the food Crawford said everyone ate out to avoid...


	8. Transitions

Aerith wasn't expecting to start on weapons so soon, on only the second day.

She stared at the handle of a standard issue sword Sargent Crawford held out to her. "Umm..."

"What? You think it's going to bite you SOLDIER?" barked Crawford, "Take it."

Aerith reluctantly, and with great distaste, took the sword in her hands. Her entire body was tense and rigged, uncomfortable in handling a tool of death. Masamune. First Tsurugui. The Buster Sword. And so many more, how many lives had been taken by such weapons? It made her want to blanch. It's why she preferred a staff; bonking someone on the head and knocking them out was more favorable than skewering them or lopping off limbs. Though, a staff really wasn't effective on penetrating some of the tough monster hides or machine armor AVALANCHE had faced on their journey chasing the One Winged Angel.

She could unfortunately remember enough of her Zack's whining back in the Lifestream about not having been able to get his own special 'coat' or weapon until he hit 1st class. She was stuck with a sword until she proved herself.

"Hmph, with that face you're making you'd think it killed your mother," mocked Crawford.

No. That had been a gunshot wound on top of the needles and experiments Hojo put her birth mother through that ended her life. "Close enough, sir."

Crawford crossed his arms. "You can't do your job without a weapon SOLDIER. Well, Hewley could, but you don't have the muscle nor the unarmed skill he does."

"I know, sir," she said, "I'll use what I have to use."

Crawford scowled. "So you say SOLDIER, but I'll believe that when I see it. You are uncomfortable with a weapon to such a degree it will effect your performance with everything you do. If I didn't know any better, you look at the weapon like one of those ninny pacifists twits."

She pursed her lips. "With respect, sir, it can take just a great of a strength to take the peaceful route than to just run in swinging a weapon."

Crawford swore under his breath. "What did I do to deserve this? You **_ARE_ ** a ninny pacifist twit aren't you?"

"I am not a twit! I prefer a peaceful approach, but I will fight if I have to," she retorted before pausing, "Sir."

Crawford had the audacity to look amused. "Is that so? And what do you fight with? Pretty looks?"

Aerith glared at him. "A staff."

Crawford deadpanned. "A staff. You fight with a twig."

Aerith gave him an undignified look. The last staff she had wielded while alive had definitely NOT been a twig. It might have been as thin as one, but the Princess Guard had been a powerful staff. She kind of missed the feel of it in her hands, it had been a comfortable weight.

"A sword is a weapon of endings," said Aerith, "They are made to _kill_. A staff can kill if need be, but a good whack upside the head, or on a joint, can end a fight without needless bloodshed or death."

She paused briefly. "Just a concussion or broken bones."

"Killing is a waste of life, and should only be done when it has to be done to prevent greater loss," said Aerith, "I will kill if I have to, but I won't take pleasure in it."

Crawford, to her surprise, stared at her silently for a few minutes. Without a word, he turned and left the room, leaving her a bit dumbfounded and confused. Had she upset him or something? Made him quit training her? She had just spoke her mind...

She stood there, a bit at a loss, until Crawford returned with, to her surprise, a metal staff in his hand. He tossed it to her and she caught it, dropping her sword and twirling the staff in her hands briefly before holding it in a familiar way, diagonally in-front of her body...

Then faster than she could react, Crawford drew his own blade, surged forward, and swung. He severed the staff in half, his blade coming inches from her nose, the force of the attack sending her staggering and the two halves flying out of her hands.

"A staff is not a match for a sword, SOLDIER," said Crawford smugly, "So I suggest you learn how to wield a _real_ weapon."

Aerith stared at him for a moment, her face starting to turn a shade of red, her fists tightening. "You..."

"You have something to say SOLDIER?" said Crawford crossly, "Go ahead and say it, at this point I'm looking for a reason to write you up you pacifist ninny twit."

"No sir," said Aerith through her grinding teeth.

"Good. Now, I am going to walk you through the initial motions, you had best pay attention SOLDIER," barked Crawford.

Pay attention she did, if only so she could learn enough to one day wipe that smug look off his face. Insufferable brute! What he was teaching her might be important, but oh how she disliked him. He walked her through various stances, attacks, blocks, parries, how to use her momentum to her advantage, all of that and more was crammed into her head in half-a-day of exhausting training.

When she finally found herself back in her room, laying exhausted on her bed, she was still peeved. "Stupid Crawford, staff probably only broke because it was a crappy one."

"Crawford huh?" came Zack's voice.

She turned her head to see Zack and Kunsel walking into the room, heading for their own beds. "Yeah, he's my instructor."

Zack cringed a bit and Kunsel whistled, the latter saying, "Strict, but a gifted teacher. Have you seen his creds?"

"Creds?" she asked, uncertain as to what he meant.

"Credentials, resume, he's had a hand in helping to train almost all of the top SOLDIERs," said Kunsel, "Ran the Shinra bootcamp before SOLDIER came about, eventually transferred over and became a SOLDIER."

"Huh," said Aerith.

Wonder what happened to him the first time around. Death in the Genesis copy war? Wutai? Meteorfall? Who knows, she didn't have a clue what happened to the vast majority of SOLDIER to be honest. She didn't even know if Kunsel was alive or dead by the time she went back in time.

"Still, must see something in you if he's training you," said Kunsel.

"Dunno if that's a good thing or not," said Zack sheepishly, "Boy was I glad when Angeal picked me up, Crawford was downright scary to train under my first few weeks. I talked back to him once and he had me run up the stairs, every single floor, top to bottom, multiple times in a single day."

"Good exercise," teased Kunsel.

Zack rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at him.

"I agree with Zack," groaned Aeirth, "He's a grumpy old man."

Kunsel snorted. "If you say so, but I'd find it an honor to be trained by the guy who had a hand in training most of the 1st class SOLDIERs we have now, trio included."

Hmm... he might have a point. It was kind of odd, in a way, to be being trained by the guy who trained Sephiroth. The thought of Sephiroth even being trained was a mind boggling one, even if it was obvious. He HAD to be trained at one point, no one was born wielding a sword like that man could. It brought an amused smile to her face, she wondered if Sephiroth had struggled like she had, or did he just pick it up instantly? She wondered how many years ago he had his training. He had went into Wutai at twelve if she recalled so it had to be before...

She frowned at that thought. Thrown into war at twelve years old... that was seven years ago. It left her briefly astonished to actually realize just how young Sephiroth actually was. Nineteen years old right now. In the original way of things, insane at twenty-two or twenty three, depending on his birth date. It was... such a damn shame, so much of his life ahead of him... so much to look forward to, she had remembered Zack telling her in the lifestream that Sephiroth had been planning to leave Shinra after the Nibelheim mission. If only he had had the chance...

It drew out her contempt for Shinra. She tried to keep it bottled up since she was technically working for them, but anyone, ANYONE who employed child soldiers was horrible. Hell, Zack right now was what... fifteen? Sixteen? Hardly an adult. Just the thought, Sephiroth as a young boy, hard to imagine as it was, thrown into a war at so young an age...

It left her in a brooding depression. Here she was working for so horrible a company. She had put her foot down to Sephiroth, saying she wouldn't be used as a thug for the President, or ever take an innocent life. What were the chances she'd actually be able to keep true to her word AND stay at the company? The leadership of Shinra was pure _evil_. Or, mostly evil since Hojo had been replaced by Lucrecia. Rupert Shinra, Scarlett, Heidegger, all awful people. Reeve was good, that was true, but he had no real influence at this point. Palmer was... fat and incompetent. Tseng, or Veld at this point, was willing to do anything in the name of Shinra. He may have softened a bit after getting Vincent and his daughter back, but he was still a Turk. Turks who would drop a plate on Sector 7 without question. Lazard... she didn't really know much about him.

How long would it be until she was ordered to do something against her morals? What would happen at that point? Kill her for refusing? It wasn't even a stretch to think that would happen, not with Shinra...

Maybe.

Veld favored her, she knew that. So did Lucrecia. The trio... she wasn't certain. Before she had bumbled into SOLDIER without asking them they might have. Now, she had to start from the bottom and prove herself first. Being the sole Ancient alive might also get her some leeway, but if push came to shove she'd have to make a decision at some point when the line was eventually drawn. She would never willingly take an innocent life, if she had to one day start AVALANCHE herself then so be it, she'd do what she had to...

_Whack._

Aerith gave a yelp when a pillow hit her face right on the nose. "Oh no, no depressed looks allowed, I can practically feel it coming off you."

Aerith pushed away the pillow and glared up at Zack. "Hey!"

Zack gave her a cheeky grin, pulled the pillow she was laying her head out from under her, and shouted, "Pillow fight!"

The following feather-filled disaster was a level of fun and entertainment she hadn't had since before she had joined AVALANCHE on their journey. At least until Angeal Hewley walked into the room, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. The three of them froze, exchanging glances, and put what was left of their destroyed pillows behind their backs in a poor childish attempt to hide their 'misdeeds'.

"Hey Angeal! What's up?" said Zack as if nothing was amiss.

Angeal merely shook his head in exasperation. "Come pup, time for your walk."

Zack scowled slightly before lighting up. "Mission?"

"Mission," confirmed Angeal.

Zack whooped, grabbed his sword, and was out the door in an instant, at least before he yelped and cried out, "Vampire!"

Aerith's eyes furrowed until a slightly disgruntled looking Vincent moved into the doorway. "Lucrecia wishes to see you Aerith."

"What does the Science Department want?" fake-whispered Zack across the room.

"Not our business," scolded Angeal.

Vincent took one look at Zack and said, "Blood."

Zack yelped. "I knew it! Vampire!"

Aerith rolled her eyes. "I was wondering when we were going to get started."

Angeal grew curious. "He's serious? What does the Science Department want your blood for?"

Aerith paused. Angeal didn't know? Wait. Had she not mentioned using her blood to remove Jenova's taint from SOLDIER to them? Did that mean Sephiroth didn't know? Uh... remembering how Sephiroth reacted to the 'surprise' of her suddenly becoming a SOLDIER, doing this without informing him was probably a _very_ bad idea...

"Angeal, could you call Sephiroth and tell him to meet me in the Science Department?" asked Aerith a little timidly.

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "If he's not in the middle of something."

"It's kind of important," she said.

"How important?" asked Angeal, a frown on his face.

"Erm... Jenova important," murmured Aerith.

Angeal's face paled slightly. "I see. Sorry Zack, mission's delayed."

"Awww, whined Zack.

"I'll call Sephiroth and Genesis and have all of us meet you down there," said Angeal.

"Erm, you all don't need to...," began Aerith.

Angeal frowned. "Anything related to that thing we all agreed to keep each other informed on."

"Ah... alright," said Aerith.

"'Jenova'?" asked Zack.

Aerith winced, noting Zack and Kunsel giving her curious looks.

"Something top secret that shouldn't be said so carelessly," said Angeal, giving Aerith a pointed look.

Aerith scratched her head bashfully. "Whoops."

"Top secret?!" exclaimed Zack excitedly, "Awesome! I know a super 'top secret' word!"

Zack walked over to Kunsel and whispered, "What's a 'Jenova'?"

"Beats me," said Kunsel before looking at Angeal and making a zipping motion to his own mouth.

Vincent cleared his throat. "Aerith. Let's be on our way before any ' _additional_ ' company secrets are spilled."

Aerith smiled sheepishly, nodded, bid the others goodbye, and followed him to the elevator and to the Science Department. Lucrecia was waiting in the same barren white room as before. Aerith frowned slightly, wishing they'd use a different one she didn't have such memories in, but kept quiet on it. She moved to sit on the examination table as Lucrecia started bringing over her equipment to draw blood. Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, and curiously Zack as well, walked in a few minutes later.

Angeal saw the look and shrugged. "He was going to hound me until he figured it out."

Zack bounced on his heels eagerly. "I can keep a secret! I swear!"

Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed, and turned to Aerith. "What is it Ancient?"

"Umm... it occurred to me that you probably didn't know about this," started Aerith nervously, "And I think you'd want to be informed of what's going on."

An irritated look crossed his face. "Informed of what, exactly?"

"We were planning on using infusion's of Aerith's blood to steadily remove Jenova out of regular SOLDIERs," explained Lucrecia.

Sephiroth blinked once. "Remove?"

"Aerith informed us that the planet told her...," began Lucrecia.

"The planet? You can really talk to the planet?" said Zack, "That's so cool!"

"Zackery," warned Sephiroth.

Zack instantly went quiet, giving Sephiroth an innocent look.

"As I was saying, the planet apparently informed her that her blood can be used to purge Jenova out of SOLDIER," said Lucrecia, "We had planned to do this slowly over time as to not awaken Jenova while we weaken her influence."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "And I am just now being informed of this? When exactly was this decided?"

"Erm... before I even returned from my exile," admitted Lucrecia.

"It was before I realized you should be informed," said Aerith quietly.

Genesis snorted. "'Realized'? That sounds like an excuse for not doing so earlier."

"At least we told you?" said Aerith weakly.

Sephiroth sighed quietly before crossing his arms. "What exactly will this process do to my SOLDIERs? Are there any dangerous side effects?"

"We don't know," said Lucrecia, "Aerith herself had no out-of-the-ordinary side effects when she was made a SOLDIER. However, using her blood, her cells, to remove Jenova from someone who is already a SOLDIER, rather than in the process of making them a SOLDIER..."

"Wait," cut in Sephiroth, "New SOLDIERs will be using her cells?"

Oh... there was something _else_ she had forgotten to mention. "Yes? Did you want Shinra to keep using Jenova?"

Sephiroth glared at Aerith, but motioned to his mother. "Continue."

"As I said, we don't know what will happen," said Lucrecia, "It shouldn't be lethal, but..."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Then this will not be implemented in mass until it is properly tested on a volunteer. I also assume, since you said 'regular SOLDIER' that it will not work on myself, Angeal, or Genesis."

"No," said Aerith, "How you three were infused with Jenova, especially you and Angeal, is irreversible."

"What about me?" demanded Genesis, "Can your blood cure the degradation you said will affect me?"

"No," said Aerith before adding in as Genesis deflated, "I have a different plan in mind for that."

Genesis scowled. "Something _ELSE_ you haven't told us, Ancient?"

"Erm...," said Aerith, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Sephiroth sighed. "One thing at a time, first we..."

"Question," interrupted Zack, "What is a 'Jenova'?"

"It's a genocidal space alien that wiped out the Ancients that Shinra was using as a science experiment to inject with Mako to create SOLDIER that can apparently mind control anyone with her cells," said Genesis, exasperated.

Zack scoffed. "Right."

When no one said anything to counter that, Zack paled slightly. "Wait, you're _serious_?"

"Why did you bring him down here again?" Genesis asked Angeal.

"Because he has a habit of eavesdropping and I'd rather have him understand what's going on than making a mess out of partial information," said Angeal.

Zack didn't react to the eavesdropping comment, a heavy frown on his face, a serious tone in his voice, "Alright then. I volunteer, stick her blood in me and get that thing _out_ of me. **Now**."

Aerith stared at him silently. Zack going deadly serious was a rare thing, and when it happened, it was a sight to watch.

"Wait wait, Zack...," began Angeal.

"Hey, you said you needed a volunteer, I'm offering," said Zack, "I'd rather you test it on me and something goes wrong then have it happen to one of my friends."

Angeal gave him a helpless look before sighing, "You're a good pup Zack."

Zack gave him a strained grin. "Besides, only someone who actually knows whats going on should volunteer. Unless you guys were planning on lying to someone about what you were sticking them with. That's kind of a 'Hojo' thing to do, isn't it?"

"Hmph, well said," said Sephiroth, a tint of approval and respect in his eyes for the young SOLDIER, "Very well, Zackery has volunteered. Let's get this started."

Aerith felt uneasy, but, she had no reason to believe her blood would hurt him. Would it? The planet had said her cells could purge Jenova, she doubt it would kill anyone, but... would it hurt?

" _Planet_?" she whispered in her mind, concerned enough for Zack to ask the Planet to commune to Midgar again.

 **CHILD**.

" _PURGE CALAMITY. WILL IT HARM SOLDIER?_ " Aerith tried to communicate.

There was silence for a moment before the planet answered. " **UNPLEASANT**."

Oh boy...

"He might want to be unconscious for it," said Aerith aloud.

Angeal immediately grew concerned. "Why?"

"Jenova infects and changes a person's cells, their DNA itself," explained Aerith, "Purging that and correcting that influence will be..."

She echoed the planet's words. "Unpleasant."

Zack shrugged and walked over to sit next to Aerith. "I can take it. Let's go, the thought of having this 'Jenova' thing inside of me is seriously giving me the creeps."

Lucrecia nodded and moved a cart full of equipment to the table. She wrapped a cloth around Aerith's left arm, gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, and then inserted a needle into a vain on her arm. Aerith watched queasily as it went down the needle into a tube connecting to a empty blood bag. She waited silently as it slowly began to fill.

"I'm no scientist, but how is this an 'end all cure'?" asked Genesis, "Based on blood types alone, shouldn't this naturally be incompatible with anyone who doesn't share her blood type?"

Lucrecia cleared her throat. "That might have been a point if there were multiple blood types involved. For SOLDIERs, there are only two."

"Eh?" said Genesis.

"Blood Type J, or Blood Type Jenova if you will, is what SOLDIERs have in varying degrees," explained Lucrecia, "Aerith is correct in what Jenova does to a person. It changes their inner chemistry in subtle ways..."

"Subtle is Jenova's way until she's ready to act," warned Aerith crossly.

Lucrecia paused briefly to turn to Aerith. "I keep forgetting, as an Ancient, you actually have more knowledge about Jenova than we do, don't you?"

Aerith frowned. "I wouldn't say more, I'd just say different. You probably know more scientifically about her than I do, but spiritually, and what she _IS_ and represents, I probably know more."

"Perhaps you could answer a few...," began Lucrecia.

"One thing at a time mother," interrupted Sephiroth, "I recognize a scientist about to ramble on, finish the blood discussion or we'll never get an answer. "

Lucrecia blushed furiously for a moment. "Y-yes of course. As I was saying, Jenova changes your cells, including your blood cells. Those who were born with her cells, such as you and Angeal, have a more pure form of J-Type blood and cells. While those who are infected after the fact, like in the SOLDIER process or other experiments such as what was done with myself, have a more _impure_ variant."

"Pure is a matter of perspective if Jenova is treated as a virus," said Sephiroth calmly, "One could also, grimly, say that we are the most tainted."

Aerith couldn't help but give the man a sad look. Was that how he now saw himself? It was a complete flip from the One-Winged Angel who saw himself as a god, but she couldn't say it was honestly better.

Lucrecia tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Perhaps, but as I was saying, those who are not born with it differ in it's 'purity', however, the reaction we have seen in brief tests with Aerith's blood, is still the same. It wipes out Jenova, with extreme prejudice I might add, and then restores and alters the cells to a more healthy and resistant state."

"Alters?" questioned Sephiroth.

Lucrecia hesitated. "The cells are left with a change to their DNA. Attempts to re-introduce Jenova Cells results in the destruction of the J-Cells. The J-Cells cannot even begin to infect the treated Cells, they are rejected and destroyed. It's like the perfect antibody. Those who bare her blood are made completely immune to Jenova, among other things."

Aerith's eyes furrowed. "What do you mean? 'Other things'?"

Lucrecia hesitated. "Perhaps you can answer it, and other questions for me. Aerith, your blood, your cells, are different, greatly different, than the records we have of your birth mother's, and even samples taken from when you... previously resided in Shinra."

Aerith frowned uneasily. She knew she had been changed when she had been sent back in time, 'touched by the Avatar' Minerva as the planet had said. What that actually meant in scientific terms, she didn't have a clue.

"What I have been able to see, from the sample we have from before your mako infusion, was that this 'change' had happened very recently," explained Lucrecia, "You were being changed as you waited here in Shinra for Veld to investigate what you had told him. Very few of your normal cells remained, even before you were mako infused."

Aerith answered half-honestly. "I don't really know what happened, I think the planet 'did' something to me when it gave me it's visions, but I can't really go more specific than that."

She noticed that Sephiroth was staring at her with slightly narrowed eyes and did her best not to meet them.

"Can you ask it?" asked Lucrecia, "Get it to speak and explain..."

"The planet really doesn't 'talk' like you think it does," said Aerith, "It doesn't hold full fledged conversations, it's not sentient in the way you or I are, and trying to bridge that gap and actually communicate is difficult, time consuming, and energy consuming."

"I see," said Lucrecia, disappointed.

"To be honest, up until the visions happened, it never talked with actual words. Most of the time it just sent feelings, incoherent and hard to decipher images, or vague desires," said Aerith, "It's desperate now, and doing what it has to do to save itself."

"How does the Goddess figure into this?" asked Genesis eagerly.

"The Goddess Minerva was... is... the avatar of the planet," explained Aerith with hesitance, "I don't fully understand what her entire function was. In the visions, I never interacted with her until I was dead and in the lifestream, and even then, she wasn't exactly talkative, she came and went at her own will."

"As a goddess should," said Genesis smugly.

Angeal and Sephiroth rolled their eyes and sighed simultaneously.

"Confirming the Goddess exists and apparently 'chose him' is the single worst thing you ever did Aerith," said Angeal with chagrin, "The way he goes on and on in private..."

Genesis scoffed and glared at him before going smug. "Well, we can't all be chosen by the Goddess."

Sephiroth had an exasperated, if but amused look on his face before he masked it and turned to Lucrecia. "Back to the topic of the Ancient's blood."

Aerith resisted the urge to glare at him. She was starting to grow a little annoyed at just being 'the Ancient' or 'Ancient'. She DID have a name.

"As I was saying, Aerith's blood is... unique," said Lucrecia, "It still is distinctly 'Ancient', but not in the way her Mother was, or she used to be. If it truly was the planet... or it's Goddess, that did this to her, turned her blood into a cure. I doubt it's something science could replicate unless we were walked through it step by step."

"Is that a problem?" asked Sephiroth.

"Technically, as long as Aerith is alive, no, but having a way to artificially make this 'cure' would make things a lot more easy on her," explained Lucrecia before she gave Aerith a sympathetic look, "The only source of this 'cure' is Aerith herself, as such, she's going to have to continually return here to donate blood and cell samples."

Sephiroth tilted his head in consideration, eyes briefly flickering to Aerith, before slowly nodding. "I see."

The blood bag filled a moment latter, and Lucrecia withdrew the needle from Aerith's arm, dabbing the spot with a cotton ball with some kind of ointment on it. Aerith felt a little lightheaded, but, it wasn't unbearable.

"So... how much of that has to go in me?" asked Zack.

Lucrecia paused at that. "I'm... not actually certain. Aerith?"

Aerith shrugged. "Beats me."

"Well, I don't think you'll need the entire thing, but a small sample might not be enough. I suppose a syringe will serve as the starting point," said Lucrecia, filling one and moving over to Zack.

Angeal moved over to stand next to Zack, putting a hand on his shoulder, Zack gave him a confident smirk before turning to Lucrecia. "Alright doc, hit me."

Lucrecia raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you wish to be awake for this?"

Zack nodded. "Yep."

With that, Lucrecia shooed Aerith off the table, had Zack roll up his shirt, placed a hand on his chest, and injected the syringe directly into his heart. They watched patiently for about a minute as nothing happened.

Then Zack tilted his head, a odd look crossing his face. "What is..."

Zack flinched, like a jolt of electricity had zapped him. He yelped loudly and clutched a hand to his chest over his heart, his face scrunched up, looking like a cross between being uncomfortable and in pain. Aerith watched, eyes widened, as a barely visible kind of black smoke rose out Zack and started to dissipate into the air. She knew what it was in reality, it was anything but smoke. She had seen it visibly in the air when Cloud and the One Winged Angel had dueled the first time the man had restored himself with Reunion. It was tainted lifestream. Instantly she understood. The planet wasn't trying to purify or heal the lifestream within people that Jenova had infected, it was purging it. Removing and destroying it before replacing it with something resistant to the taint. The planet was _done_ with healing, it was cutting off the infection and removing it.

"Oh wow," wheezed Zack, "I feel _that_ burn. Walking up the stairs has _nothing_ on this."

Angeal gave a nervous, but slightly relieved laugh. "That so?"

Zack nodded, holding out his hands and watching the little streams of black smoke rise out of him and fade. "To quote Reno: This is wack yo."

Aerith blinked a few times. Zack knew Reno?

"While we're waiting for this 'process' to finish, could you explain more about Jenova?" asked Lucrecia, "How was she fought in these 'visions'? This could be important."

Sephiroth nodded and slightly leaned forward. "Indeed."

"I... never properly explained that I suppose," said Aerith nervously, "In the visions, we never actually fought Jenova under her own will."

Sephiroth gave her a perplexed look. "Explain."

"Jenova's will was supplanted by... the One-Winged Angel," explained Aerith, "She was not in control at any point after she initially drove you insane, even when her original form was reconstructed. That's why I'm nervous about this whole process. If she wakes up, facing Jenova, the real actual Jenova, will be far different than facing the One-Winged Angel."

"Wait, this Jenova thing drove Seph...," began Zack.

"We'll explain it all later Zack," said Angeal, "Hush."

"Different how?" asked Sephiroth, ignoring the others, his eyes narrowing at Aerith.

"The One-Winged Angel was one being," she explained, "He acted through Jenova's body yes, but he was only fought a handful of times. Jenova..."

Aerith's face contorted with disgust and anger. "Jenova is a _virus_. An awful awful monstrous sentient virus _THING_."

"You're going to have to be a little more detailed than that," said Genesis dryly.

Aerith sighed. "Jenova is an active infection is how I can best explain it. She first appeared two-thousand years ago, arriving on a meteor that heavily wounded the planet. The Ancients tried to heal the planet, but in drawing close to the wound, they made themselves vulnerable. She... _it_... first approached the Cetra as a friend, deceiving them, taking on the appearance of dead loved ones. Once it got close, it gave them 'the virus', her cells, and infected them. They were driven insane and turned into monsters, all controlled by Jenova's will. She spread across nearly all the Cetra clans, my ancestors were the only ones to survive, who managed to seal her away."

"U-uh...," said Zack, the color draining out of his face, "That's scary."

"So what you're saying is that if Jenova ever becomes active, it won't be as a singular dangerous enemy, but as a widespread pandemic?" asked Sephiroth.

Aerith hesitatingly nodded. "I think so, but truthfully, I don't know, it could be both from all I know. All I have from her original arrival and destruction of the Cetra are stories. Her actual strategies, and what was used to try and combat her, I haven't a clue about. I don't even know how she was originally sealed away."

"That topic, the 'sealing', poses an interesting question," said Lucrecia, "If Jenova works as you say, and infected the vast majority of the Cetra, then how did sealing away it's core body deal with the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of infected individuals? All Shinra dug up was one single body after all."

Aerith blinked a few times, that was a damn good question. "I... don't know. It also presents another problem, because when someone with Jenova in them dies, the lifestream within them is tainted. This taint can be purified overtime so long as there isn't an active will controlling it, but..."

"It's best Jenova's core body is found and disposed off without waking it up so we don't have to worry about that," finished Lucrecia.

"Agreed," said Aerith.

They all paused when the black smoke finally stopped coming out of Zack. He looked himself over, a hint of a frown on his face.

"Feel any different?" asked Angeal.

Zack had a deep serious look on his face for a moment before he smirked and perked up. "Nope! Good as ever!"

Angeal snorted. "Well, he's not dead or dying, so I say it works."

Genesis spoke up, "If we're done talking about the 'alien', what were you saying about having an idea for my 'supposed' degradation?"

Aerith hesitated. "Well..."

"Why can't the Goddess just do what she did in your future voodoo stuff?" asked Zack.

Genesis saved her from having to lie. "Because I have not _earned_ her favor as my counterpart must have."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "The cure?"

Aerith licked her lips. "I have a way to cure him, but, I'm unsure as to when to use it."

"What do you mean, when?" asked Genesis.

"When Minerva healed you before, you were on your last legs, you had been degrading for years, carrying on through sheer strength of will...," began Aerith.

"Don't I believe that," said Angeal with a laugh, "Gens to stubborn to die."

Genesis glared at him, but couldn't stop himself from smirking.

Aerith cleared her throat. "The point is, your body was 'imperfectly' given Jenova Cells, it's unstable, it's tearing itself apart in an attempt to reject the Jenova cells. My knowledge of science isn't really... good... but, you were healed after you had degraded to a certain point. I don't know if that has to actually happen or not."

Genesis went silent, a hint of a frown on his face. "Hmm."

"One would think fixing a problem would be easier before it starts to cascade and fail," said Sephiroth.

"That's the thing, I don't know," said Aerith, "The method I want to use isn't something that can be used willy-nilly. There will be a significant downtime, as in years, between uses unless I want to significantly drain the planet's reserves. Which means if it doesn't work this time, he's stuck degrading for awhile."

Sephiroth's eyes furrowed. "Just what are you planning on using to 'cure' him?"

"Holy," was all she said in response.

Sephiroth frowned. "Holy?"

Aerith kept her lips tightly sealed. She remembered Chaos scolding her about revealing it before, she didn't want that a second time, especially when those in-front of her were still connected to Jenova in some way. The term 'Holy' might not be known to Jenova, but if she actually pulled out the Materia, it might cause a reaction...

Which also presented a problem when she actually had to go and use Holy on Genesis. Hrm...

Well, she'd cross that bridge when it came to it.

Sephiroth must have figured out she wasn't going to answer, he scowled intently. "I'm sure Genesis, and the rest of us, would appreciate you using this 'Holy' before he begins to degrade before our very eyes and fall apart. I'd rather not have to have my friend go through that kind of hell if at all possible."

Genesis gave Sephiroth a brief, if but surprised look, appearing startled but pleased by the proclamation. " _My friend, your desire, is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess_."

Sephiroth grunted in response, but didn't look away from Aerith. "Well?"

"I guess... it's up to Genesis really," said Aerith, "While I don't want him to suffer, it's his risk, his choice. He wont have this option again for a couple of years after it's been used."

Genesis didn't seem phased. "So be it. Do it now if you so wish. I'll not suffer this 'degradation' if I don't have to, and if I do because of my haste, so be it."

"Well, we can't do it here," said Aerith.

"Where then?" demanded Genesis.

Aerith pursed her lips, memories of the destination, of a blade through her chest, haunting her mind. "We'll have to go to the Forgotten Capital..."


	9. Pain of the Past, Prayers for the Future

Aerith doesn't pay attention as Angeal quietly briefs Zack on the full truth of the matter, about the Jenova Project, Project S and G. She stares out of the helicopter that she, Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis are being flown in by Tseng. It's strange, in a way. The first time she had gone for the Forgotten Capital, it had been with a sense of hope and determination. Now it was a trip of dread. A knot in her stomach, a tension in her entire body, because she knew what she was going to have to do.

She was going to have to go to the alter.

Hop across the steps.

Kneel down.

And pray for Holy...

Right on the spot where she had been run through and killed.

A slight shudder rips through her body, and for a moment, her stomach hurts with intense phantom pain. Why? Why was this... intensity... running through her mind? She had been unhappy about dying, true, but... it hadn't affected her like this in the lifestream...

Oh.

Right.

Lifestream. Surrounded by the souls of those who had come before her, wrapped warmly in the cradle of the Planet, comforted in the Promised Land. The place of supreme happiness, where earthly matters didn't have so much weight, except for Jenova and Seph... er... 'the One-Winged Angel'. She recognized she had never _dealt_ with the fact she had died, just shoved it aside, because it didn't matter. She had been dead, and that was all there was to it. Now? Not so much.

How does one deal with actually being dead? For years? And then coming back? It's funny because most people would want to be alive, do anything to return to life if they died and somehow retained their consciousness. Herself? It was the opposite. Goddess... being a part of the Lifestream was pure bliss.

There was no pain.

No more suffering or worries.

Except when everything went wrong the last time the One-Winged Angel performed Reunion.

The time he finally put his arrogance aside, and fought Cloud, fought AVALANCHE, _seriously_.

And killed them all.

She leaned her head against the helicopter window with a soft thud. Is it wrong to wish she was still dead, in the Planet's embrace, not having to even consider these issues? When she still has so much work left to do? Or is it that? She was willing to do this, didn't really have a choice in the matter if she was honest, but did she really _want_ to do this? Goddess, it had been terrifying to watch Cloud and the other's face down the One-Winged Angel and his Jenova puppet. Doing it herself? Fighting the actual Calamity in control of itself if everything went wrong and it woke up?

There are _no words_ for the dread in her stomach.

Cloud and the other's were always worried about the One-Winged Angel. They never realized what the true danger was, that his will overpowering Jenova actually _helped_ _them_. It limited the Calamity to his desires and strategies, his plans, his will. The One-Winged Angel _HAD BEEN_ incredibly dangerous, that was true, he _**DID** _ win after all in the end. He was more powerful than Jenova was. Raw strength and will wasn't everything though. The One-Winged Angel's plans had always been pretty straight forward.

Reunion.

Use the Black Materia.

Become a god by absorbing the lifestream at the wound when Meteor hit.

Or...

Revive and constantly throw himself at Cloud after his remnants or whatever he used to revive himself that time brought him back.

Jenova on the other hand was _insidious_.

It might have been the One-Winged Angel's power that won in the end, but he never would have existed without Jenova. Could never have pulled himself and reformed out of the Lifestream again and again without the abilities granted unto him from her cells. Jenova could be subtle, in ways the One-Winged Angel never was or could be. Jenova could plot, scheme, deceive, infect and twist, and so much more. The One-Winged Angel could influence his remnants or those with his S-Cells, but she doubted he could control and direct hundreds of thousands of beings infected with J-Cells at the same time like Jenova herself was capable of.

Jenova was not human.

Not in the slightest.

She was an cunning extra-terrestrial sentient adaptable virus-parasitical planetcidal entity that could absorb any traits or memories of those it encountered. It did not think, nor act, in ways humans, or Ancients, could fathom. Killing it's physical body didn't even work, because of it's cells being able to infect the Lifestream. _HOW_ her ancestors actually managed to defeat...

No.

That's not right.

The Ancients did _not_ defeat Jenova.

They didn't even break even.

They had a pyrrhic victory at best. Sealing her away was not a win, in all honesty, Jenova had crushed the Ancients. Beaten them so badly that their civilization had fallen, dwindled down in numbers until Aerith was all that was left. All her ancestors had done was put Jenova off for another day, another generation, to fight. The problem was, _no lessons were learned_ to help the next generations. Great Gospel, and whatever the Goddess and the Planet had done to Aerith's cells and blood, were the only new things in the fight against the Calamity. She didn't even know if she could still use the variant of Great Gospel she had used from the Lifestream, empowered by the planet. So in reality, Aerith herself was the only new thing.

Sad to say, Sephiroth going insane and subjugating Jenova was one of the better scenarios. AVALANCHE had held him off and won many victories against him. He had been fairly straightforward, though, there was nothing safe in that fact, since he was still deadly even if they knew he was coming and knew what he wanted.

Jenova however was _**THE** _ worst case scenario.

Well... to be fair. Jenova controlling all of SOLDIER including the trio would be the worst case scenario. The Calamity without control of her three 'children' wouldn't be as much of a nightmare, but still bad.

But...

With the trio on her side, and a cleansed SOLDIER...

How would that fare in an open conflict? She knew that Jenova infected beings exhibited increased strength, but that wouldn't match SOLDIER, at least not one on one. Still... if it came down to say... an infected city the size of Midgar or Junon against SOLDIER, how would that pan out?

Could SOLDIER win against such overwhelming numbers?

Could the Planet handle that much infected Lifestream if those numbers were cleansed?

She brought up a fingernail to gnaw on. She was not a battle planner, nor a general. Weighing such odds in her mind was an alien concept to her. And a nerve wracking one. Especially since in such a scenario, she'd be in the middle of that battle, killing innocent people who no longer had free will, enslaved and infected by the Calamity... who would never find peace and absolution and rebirth in the Lifestream.

There were no winners in such a conflict.

"Do you actually have a plan, or are you just making it up as you go?" came Genesis's drawling voice.

Aerith blinked a few times, pulling herself out of her bleak thoughts. "Pardon?"

Genesis snorted. "If I didn't know any better, watching you hit your head against the window racking your brain for something, I'd think you made me an empty promise and are trying to figure out how to come through."

Aerith gave him a disbelieving look, and was very tempted to ignore the fear and uncertainty emanating from the man and vent her own such feelings at him. She didn't however, as much as he didn't show it, he was very insecure about the idea of degrading. She could imagine she hadn't been giving out a very confident vibe at the moment, and he had called her out correctly, just not on the right topic.

"You're degradation isn't a problem," she said simply, "Other issues aren't so clear cut."

Genesis crossed his arms and glared at her. "Oh, so glad you take degradation and going insane so seriously. _Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul._ "

Aerith rolled her eyes and returned to staring out the window, silent, her lips pressed tightly closed. They were closing in on the Northern Continent now, it wouldn't be more than half an hour until they reached their destination. Funny thing about helicopters. Flying over the Sleeping Forest worked wonders for circumventing its magic. Her ancestors never considered the aerial approach. She wondered if that was how it fell to Jenova thousands of years ago.

"Penny for your thoughts?" came Zack's voice, his foot sliding over to nudge hers.

Her eyes briefly flickered towards Zack, noting the concern on his face, and couldn't help but notice the others all watching her. She closed her eyes briefly, and took a moment to forcibly relax herself. Her shoulders stopped tensing, her fists stopped clenching, her face stooped scrunching up in serious thought and apprehension, and she leaned back against the helicopter seat.

"Just thinking about the future," was all she said before closing her eyes.

"The future will come at it's own pace," said Sephiroth, "Think on it, prepare for it, but don't let it dominate your mind or you will find yourself consumed by it."

Aerith opened her eyes to briefly meet his, staring at him silently. Wise words she supposed, especially from one so young. It kept surprising her to hear such things from him. She really knew next to nothing about who he had truly been before madness took him. The few times she discussed pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth in the Lifestream with _her_ Zack didn't do him justice, he had already been damaged and withdrawn from losing Genesis and Angeal.

She gave him a brief nod and re-closed her eyes, silently listening to the sound of the helicopter blades swooshing through the air. The landed on the outskirts of the Forgotten Capital. The trip had been long, and the day already mostly spent, night was quickly falling, the atmosphere so similar to her final hours of life in her other life. For a moment, she saw a ghost, an echo of her older self, walking through the ruins. Then... Sephi... 'The One-Winged Angel', following silently, watching, waiting, Masamune in his hand, cold hard madness in his eyes.

Her face paled at the sight, and she abruptly shook her head, banishing the vision and steeling herself, to little avail. She started walking down the broken pathways. Ghosts of AVALANCHE danced across her eyes, her old and gone friends, coming in search of her... oh Cloud... Tifa... Barrett... Nanaki... Yuffie... _her_ Vincent... Cid... even Cait Sith...

A tremor went down her arms, a ragged breath escaped her lips. She shook her head again and picked up the pace.

"Dude, is she okay?" she faintly heard Zack whisper, "Something's seriously not right with her."

"I don't know," came Angeal's hushed response.

She tuned them out. Right now, she couldn't care less what they thought. This place... it was far more painful to be here than she could possibly imagine. Her chest where Masamune had run her through was aching, growing worse and worse each step she drew closer to her destination. She walked down the center path, through the narrow pathway to...

She froze briefly at the lake, where Cloud had laid her body to rest...

Nervously stared at the shell house, whose depths she had died in...

She forced herself to walk inside. She circled around the railing, touching it and sending a tendril of her power to activate the translucent staircase downward to the alter.

"Woah," said Zack.

"Shush," came Genesis's soft voice, "This is... a sacred place, be civil here and quiet."

"Sacred?" came Angeal's confused response.

Aerith slowly began walking down towards the alter, her memories playing havoc on her mind. She saw herself walking in front of her, and moved to match each step. Down and down she went, on the staircase made of Ancient power and magic. The others followed silently behind her. She could feel Zack's awe to the place around them. The trio were far more serious. She didn't know if it was her reaction to this place that set them off, but they were wary, as if expecting danger.

The danger had come and gone, death with it, in another life.

She passed through the old hut before the alter, to the final stairway, and then paused briefly as the alter. For a moment, she saw herself already there, in her pink clothes, hair tied back in a ribbon, kneeling down to pray for Holy. A ghostly Cloud started leaping across one step after another towards the alter, and she moved to follow.

She paused briefly to say hoarsely. "S-stay here."

She crossed, one jump at a time, until she came to the foot of an alter. She walked up the steps, each footfall echoing heavily through the air. The phantom pain in her chest flaring with each step closer. She brought a hand up to clench her chest as she stood infront of the spot where she had knelt. She felt tears start to slip down her face, soft 'plunks' as they hit the glass. She couldn't bring herself to turn kneel down, she simply stood there and stared at the spot where her life had ended, her heart pounding in her head.

She may have loved being in the Lifestream, but death... her death...

She watched, as an echo of Cloud appeared, struggling with himself, with the will of the 'One-Winged Angel'. He came so close to actually killing her, if not for his friends words, he might not have stopped. She watched herself open her eyes with surprise, then smiling at Cloud, and then... then...

The One-Winged Angel descended from the heavens and ran her through, the shock, surprise, and agony on her ghost self's face echoed through her as her life faded, and the pain in her chest was debilitating...

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, struggling with herself, it may have been minutes, it may have been hours, but finally, she forced herself to move to the spot, turn, and kneel down to pray. She briefly saw hints of surprise, confusion, and concern when they caught sight of her tear-stained face, but she closed her eyes to block them out. She took a ragged breath, took Holy out of her pocket, clasped her hands around it, and prayed.

She prayed for Genesis...

For the light to heal him...

For a pillar of strength, a friend, for Sephiroth to lean on to maintain himself...

To avert a tragedy before it could begin...

To stop his madness before it could cause so much harm...

To stop the cascade of events that lead up the Nibelheim...

To stop the endless battles AVALANCHE had fought against the One-Winged Angel...

In truth, she prayed for more than just him...

She prayed for a chance to change the future.

And Holy answered.

A shine flashed out of her hands, and without the One-Winged Angel's power to suppress it, she felt Holy rush out of the Planet. The lake beneath their feat, all around them, began to dance with teal translucent light. The others were pushed away from Genesis as Holy burst out of the lake in a torrent of light and wrapped around the man. To his credit, he showed no fear, only a wonder she didn't think she had ever seen on his face. The energy lifted him, and wrapped him in a cocoon of light, blocking him from sight and swirling around him. It took only mere minutes, when it was finished, the light slowly set him down and faded away.

Genesis stood there, almost exactly as he had before, some would say exactly as he was if they didn't pay attention to detail. His skin had tanned so ever slightly, reversing the beginning of a paleness most would not have noticed starting. There was extra focus and sharpness in his eyes where there hadn't been before. His posture, ever so slightly more straight. A minor tension across his body had relaxed and faded away. There was a soft smile on the man's face as he examined himself. She could see that the other two of the trio saw what she did, and they seemed almost stricken, self-reproach and disbelief on their faces. So in tune with the planet right now, she could clearly hear the thoughts echoing through both of their minds:

_"He was my friend, and I didn't even notice what was happening to him."_

"Gift of the Goddess indeed, you don't realize how off you were until the rust falls away," he muttered, clenching and relaxing his hands, "I dread to think how awful it would have been to really start degrading if this is how good I feel right now. Goddess, I didn't even realize it was happening now, I thought it started with the wound I eventually received..."

She couldn't help but pity the Genesis from her time at that. She wondered briefly what he must have felt to degrade like that, and then, for the Goddess herself to heal and bless him, freeing him from a heavy degradation so much worse than the one before her had started to feel. Speaking of feeling bad...

She felt awful tired all the sudden, drained.

Calling Holy took a lot out of her. She had died before it had set in last time, but oh, was there a deep ache she knew she would be feeling tomorrow, probably for longer. She pocketed Holy and adjusted her legs, sitting against the back of the alter, propping up a knee to wrap her arms around. She placed her forehead against her knee and closed her eyes, taking some time to rest while the others appraised the 'new and improved' Genesis...

She frowned briefly, feeling an odd difference to his presence. It was strange, something almost... 'ancient'... to him. Yet at the same time not. She paused, raising an eyebrow, when she heard the Planet giggle softly in the back of her mind. She slowly shook her head, let the Planet do as it wanted. It obviously had something in mind for the man, whatever role it wanted him to play, she'd find out in time she supposed.

She could hear the light sound of someones feet crossing the stepping pillars to the alter, and then a soft patter up the steps of the alter itself.

"Thank you for helping him," came Sephiroth's soft voice.

Aerith didn't react to his words, at least, not right away. To have him so close to her in a spot where they had been in a different life, giving gratitude instead of death was... an unusual sensation. The past life won out though, discomfort set across her immediately, she... didn't want him here... as unfair as it was to a Sephiroth who had not committed the crime.

"You're welcome, I... need some time to rest, explore the Forgotten Capital if you so wish," she said, hoping he'd take the hint to leave.

He did no such thing. Instead, a quietness filled the air. She could feel his curious eyes upon her.

"What is this place to you?" he asked.

She tensed, a shiver running through her body. She contemplated not telling him.

Contemplated lying.

Contemplated smudging the truth.

Contemplated telling him to leave.

Instead, she slowly raised her forehead off her knee, and met his gaze with her own, whatever he saw in her eyes caused him, a man of such control, to briefly flinch, before she spoke the four words she dreaded to say, said them with painful intensity and a hollowness, "It's where I died."

His eyes widened slightly, a stillness coming over his body, conflict crossed his face, guilt, apprehension, shame, and anger, before the mask came back over, forcing them away. "I see."

The man slowly turned and started to walk away. "We'll return in an hour."

She nodded absentmindedly, closed her eyes, and felt herself drift away. In a place so treasured by the Planet, it embraced her with murmurs of comfort, lulling her into a gentle sleep with the sound of the Lifestream flowing through the back of her mind and the soothing sound of the lake around her...


	10. Quiet Musings

_"It's where I died."_

Sephiroth's lips twitched in displeasure as the Ancient's words echoed in his mind again. He walked up the steps away from the underwater alter, trailing behind his friends rather than leading for once. He had much to think about, and much still to understand.

_"It's where I died."_

Four words that ruined the wonder of this place for him. Ruined the satisfaction of seeing Genesis restored to his prime from a fall that had been happening under his nose. Ruined any good mood he might have had. It was nothing he could truly fault her for, in fact, he was grateful, and impressed, by her honesty. It made sense now, her dread and anxiety coming to this place, the pain.

_"It's where I died."_

He was starting to grow a bit... wary... of her explanation about 'visions'. Something was off about it. There was to much _very real_ pain in her motions, in her eyes. He was hesitant to doubt anything he did not truly understand, and there was much he had to learn about the Ancients, but the reactions and sensations emanating from the woman felt to strong to be a result of visions. Even IF she said the visions had been as if she lived through them.

_"It's where I died."_

He resisted the urge to growl. Those four words were going to haunt him if he didn't acknowledge them, and the words she hadn't said.

_"It's where you killed me."_

She would never say those words aloud again, as much as she had every right to. She was to kind and considerate to voice them, despite the truth in them. She could deny it all she want, say that it was the 'One-Winged Angel' and not him every time, but the truth could not be hidden. It still resided in her reaction. The discomfort that had emanated from her when he drew close to her on the alter. He had not been welcome there. She did not dissociate him and his 'vision self'. How he _loathed_ that other self. He fought and killed when he had to, it was his lot in life, but he tried to keep innocent casualties to a bare minimum. Killing innocents, especial one so pure, in cold blood, madness or not, was damning.

Would that deed always hang over him, to be reminded again and again whenever her eyes laid on him?

He glanced back down briefly, at the alter far below. He was not religious, but even he had to agree with what Genesis had said. This place felt 'sacred' on his senses, hallowed. He was not one to gape in awe at anything, but such a wondrous place came close to making him do so. He was curious how exactly the Ancients created an underwater alter that was not engulfed by the lake, but he figured that knowledge had been lost. To kill the innocent in such a place was even worse, to spill pure blood across an alter of prayer. He cringed briefly at the thought that his 'vision self' had most likely killed her mid-prayer as well, disgraceful and unbecoming of a warrior.

"So... is this place safe to explore at night?" questioned Zack as they reached the top of the spiral translucent staircase.

"You're a SOLDIER, have some spine," mocked Genesis, "I'm more than eager to test myself out."

"Be careful when you do so," said Sephiroth, "This place should be disturbed as little as possible."

Genesis tilted his head in acknowledgement before an eager glint hit his eyes. "Agreed. I'll hold off on showing off until... say a spar tomorrow?"

Sephiroth smirked. "I look forward to it."

With that, Genesis strode out of the shell house, Zack moving to follow before he paused at the door. He turned to Angeal, who motioned him out.

The man turned to him after Zack left. "Seph... I heard what she said, it's not your fault."

Sephiroth gave him a pointed look. "Isn't it? I'm not going to wallow in guilt if that is your concern. I acknowledge that the deed was done, or would have been done. It simply irks me."

Angeal raised an eyebrow. "Irks? Something 'irking' you don't make you brood like you were walking up."

Sephiroth shot him an irritated look. "Ever since she appeared, I've wished I could wave away her words as fanciful delusions, but I see and feel nothing but truths in her words and eyes. There is no denying it, there's been no denying it for some time now, especially after seeing _that_ display. I did not even notice that Genesis wasn't in top form anymore, what would it have taken? That wound she spoke of? His skin unnaturally paling, his hair blighting and falling out, him going insane?"

Angeal took a step forward and put an comforting hand on his shoulder. "I didn't see it either Seph, and her words, my 'deeds' in her vision, if that's what it truly was, weigh on me as well."

Sephiroth brooded for a moment, lowering his guard in front of perhaps the only one in the world he truly trusted doing so with, Genesis would playfully mock him for it and not take it seriously. "The end of a world weighing on one's shoulders, the slaughter of innocents, is not something I desire on my conscience. That child's death... I have never met someone who simply radiates innocence and purity to my senses like she does, who cares so readily for those who do not deserve it. Her blood on my hands... it reminds me of early Wutai, the villages..."

Angeal winced and looked away. That was a topic they almost never talked about. Simply put, Sephiroth had been a twelve year old _boy_ given a sword and thrust into a battlefield with the orders to kill the Wutai insurgents. For all the things that had been crammed into his head, the difference between a civilian and a combatant hadn't been one of them. Shinra hadn't considered it important enough to point out the disparity, hadn't thought they needed to. Fools, he had been living in the labs as a damn experiment most of his life, under Hojo's eyes, HOJO'S! A man who didn't care who he experimented on. How was that boy supposed to have known? To him, that foolish twelve year old boy, both civilians and combatants stopped moving, 'died', just as easily as the other.

He could still remember that look of utter horror and fear on his allies faces when they came across the carnage. Most wouldn't come near him. Thankfully, Angeal had, Angeal had shown him, told him, explained to him the difference. Taught him honor, right and wrong in ways that he had never learned in the labs. Bless that man, for Sephiroth didn't honestly know where he'd be without Angeal.

' _Insane and out destroying the world_ ' crawled through his head for a moment, making him scowl in irritation. He banished the self-loathing and refocused on something Angeal had said...

He frowned. "'If that's what it was'. Yes, that troubles me just as much."

Angeal gave him a tight smile. "Ah, so I'm not the only one. I know you and Genesis thought she was hiding something, but I didn't know you pinpointed her 'visions'."

"The Ancient speaks with such honesty it's very easy to tell when she's lying, hiding something, or speaking a partial truth," said Sephiroth, "I've replayed every conversation we've had with her in my head in my spare time, picking apart things that don't make sense, or hint at something. The ride over, and seeing her reactions to this place was... enlightening."

"Yes, her... reactions...," murmured Angeal, a heavy contemplative frown plastered across his face, "They're to strong. Far to strong. Ever since I saw her freak out at Zack it's rubbed me wrong. I actually looked into the subject a few days ago. Not that most people have 'visions'. The closest accounts I've gotten was drug induced hallucinations. Those are vague, hard to remember, and most certainly do not make you feel like you lived through them. Real visions have... well... no basis to be honest. It's not a human thing, the only confirmation we have that it was a vision is her own word."

Sephiroth turned his head to silently stare at Angeal, but did not interrupt, wanting to hear the man's thoughts on the matter.

Angeal licked his lips. "She knows a lot, remember what your mother said, about her knowledge of highly classified projects among other things. She's been vague at times yes, but I don't think it's from a lack of detail."

Sephiroth nodded slowly. "I've also caught her once or twice referring to her vision's as 'what happened before'. As if..."

"As if they're memories?" asked Angeal, "As if she really went through them?"

Sephiroth nodded once more.

"It wouldn't be much of a stretch," admitted Angeal, "If it seemed like she lived through it to her as she said, dissociating between reality and a vision might be difficult."

Sephiroth tilted his head in acknowledgement. "True."

"But I don't know," murmured Angeal, "You... you can't fake love Sephiroth. Nor the pain of losing a loved one. What I saw from her, about Zack..."

He trailed off uncomfortably, leaving Sephiroth to toy with the idea. He had never experienced 'love', whether parental or for a significant other, so he couldn't really agree or disagree on it. Still, he trusted Angeal's word.

"Do you have any ideas?" prodded Sephiroth.

"None that aren't completely crazy," said Angeal with a laugh.

"Such as?" asked Sephiroth in a serious tone.

Angeal scratched the back of his head almost bashfully. "Well, she has knowledge of the future, and extreme emotional reactions to what happened. If the vision thing is in doubt, the only other thing I can think of is that she's from it."

Sephiroth raised a single eyebrow and responds in a neutral tone. "Time travel."

"Like I said," said Angeal, "Completely crazy."

"I'm amused," said Sephiroth, good natured, "To see the steadfast logical man suggest such a thing."

Angeal laughed again. "Yeah I know, it just jumped in my head."

Sephiroth let his amusement fade. "That doesn't mean I am dismissing the notion."

That caught Angeal off-guard. "What?"

"It is no less 'crazy' an idea than receiving a detailed vision of the future from 'the Planet'," said Sephiroth, "I have little to no knowledge of the Ancients or their abilities, nor that of the Planet's.  Dismissing anything before fully ruling it out is foolish."

That ignores the issue of considering the Planet as a sentient entity. He was still trying to wrap his mind around that. Not to mention whatever this 'Holy' the Ancient had used to heal Genesis. The barrage of sensations that had ripped through Sephiroth when that power had nudged him and the other's back and wrapped around Genesis was still very fresh in his mind.

Sephiroth rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Though, I sorely hope time travel it isn't the truth."

"Why?" asked Angeal, concerned and curious.

"Because there is a difference between something that may have happened in the future, and something that did happen," explained Sephiroth wearily, "The first is a warning, the second is a sin so foul that time itself had to be circumvented. It means everything she told us we did, and what she hasn't told us yet, occurred."

Angeal is awfully silent all the sudden, his mind working over Sephiroth's words, a bit of color seeping out of the man's face. They stand there together, brooding for a time, until Angeal slowly shakes his head and makes for the door.

"I'll go check on Genesis and the pup, make sure they aren't burning the place down," murmured Angeal.

Sephiroth nodded. "I'll stand guard for the time being, leaving this place undefended when the Ancient rests and recovers seems... unwise."

Angeal nodded and left without another word. Sephiroth figured the man would be walking 'very' slowly to give himself time to think, to ponder, to brood alone. The notion that the man might have actually forced his apprentice to kill him is most likely a harrowing one. It was easy to dismiss a vision of something that 'might' happen, to tell himself 'I would never do that to Zack', but to consider the possibility that he actually did do it? That required self-reflection Angeal most likely hadn't had yet. He wasn't sure Angeal should be alone for such a difficult task, but he respected the man's privacy.

Sephiroth slowly shakes his head and returns to the present, leaving his musings for another time. He glances outside of the shell house, at the crystal clear lake. This is a... quiet and peaceful place. Such a location doesn't exist in Midgar, or rather, is an exceedingly unique find there. He had visited the Ancient's church in the slums once after reading the Turk's profile on her. It held a peace similar to this place, though not as deep. They had encountered no monsters on the way in, he honestly doubted there were any for the time being. It is a place away from conflict, away from paperwork, away from Shinra...

He finds he rather likes it. If he ever retires, a place like this might be suitable.

Then again, considering what was done here, the Ancient's blood spelt across that alter, he has no right to this place. He slowly shakes his head, annoyed again by the self-loathing thought. He had told the Ancient not to her concerns for the future consume her, that also applied to himself as well. He crossed his arms and tilted his head in thought. He played all that he had seen, heard, and sensed through his head since getting in the helicopter with the Ancient through his mind. There were several questions that popped through his mind.

How did the Ancient get here in her 'vision'? How old was she when she made this journey? Did she come alone?

He turned around and moved to the spiral translucent staircase, not to head down, but to glance down at the alter far below, the Ancient a distance dot. She was a mere child now, cusping at entry to her teenage years, not that he had that many years on her. He however had been trained since his early youth. Her? She had been a scrawny, untested, unprepared, unenhanced child who lived in the slums. He had a hard time imagining a child making such a journey alone, baring a helicopter ride. Yet, he had easily picked up her contempt for Shinra, he doubted it had been at their bidding. So then, how many years would have passed until she was capable of making that journey? What would she have had to gone through to steel herself for it?  Ancient or not, monsters would tear such a opportune meal apart. He'd say at least a decade, giving her time to grow, placing her at roughly twenty-two years old. Even then... she leaned more towards pacifism from what he had read. Her shift towards a willingness to fight was only brought on by the 'vision'. In the original way of things... he had his doubts.

If she had allies however it was more feasible... but the thing of that was, how then did she die? He held no doubts anyone who fought for the Ancient would have given their life for her. Did they? Did they lay down their lives for her at the alter, only for a mad Sephiroth to carve a path through them? He leaned towards that idea, but he wasn't sure. He didn't dare ask anymore than he already had of her about this place, and what happened here. He had enough tact to know better.

He was tempted to ask more about her allies. The only name he had thus far was one 'Cloud'. Which could be a nickname, first name, last name, or even a code name. He didn't even have a gender to attribute. Trying to track that one down would be foolish with what little information he had. Though he was sorely tempted to. Simply put, anyone who had the will and courage to stand with the Ancient against an insane Sephiroth would be a most valuable ally to have.

Something to consider for the future he supposed.

He turned and strode to the entrance of the shell house once more, leaning against the doorway, standing guard until the others eventually returned.

Zack yawned as he followed in behind Angeal. "Man, its late. Shouldn't we be getting back? I'm all for all-nighters, but, I'd like at least three hours of sleep."

"Agreed," said Angeal.

"Well, someone go fetch the Ancient then," said Genesis.

Sephiroth waited a moment, hoping someone else would volunteer, but none did, seeming comfortable leaning against the house and trying to stare down one another into doing the deed. He slowly shook his head in bemusement and turned, making for the stairway down and descending. He felt... uncomfortable returning to the alter after learning what had been done here, but he was a practical man. One of them had to get the Ancient, judging by the exhaustion he had seen, she wasn't going to be waking on her own anytime soon.

Step by step he descended into the submerged sanctum, until he stood once again at the foot to the alter. He crossed, jumping from one step to the next until he reached his destination, walked up the steps, and stared down at the Ancient's sleeping form.

"Ancient," he said softly.

She didn't stir.

"Ancient," he tried again, in a normal tone.

Nothing.

"Ancient," he tried once again, in a raised tone.

She slept like the dead it seemed.

He was hesitant to shake her, waking her up in such a place with him so close would probably elect an instinctual response when she woke up startled. He half expected a scream of fear or a fist to lash out. Yet when he knelt down and gently shook her shoulder she didn't stir at all. Calling forth 'Holy' put her down for the count it seemed. With a sigh, he placed an arm under her legs, and his other behind her back, before lifting her up. He adjusted her head to rest against his chest rather than hang off the side or roll around. She wouldn't have appreciated waking up with a stiff or strained neck after all. He turned and strode from the alter, leaping across in one go, and making his way up the steps.

He reached the top and strode past the others without a word, ignoring both Angeal and Genesis's amused expressions. They walked quietly through the Forgotten Capital back to the helicopter. He put and buckled her inside before getting in himself, the other's piling in afterwords.

"Zackery, it would be appropriate for you to carry your roommate back to your room," said Sephiroth.

Zack gave a sleepy nod. "Yes sir, I'll give her a piggyback ride."

Sephiroth gave a curt not in return and closed his eyes, lightly dozing for the ride back, and he certainly wasn't the only one. SOLDIERs could stay awake for extended periods of time compared to normal humans, but, they still liked to rest and sleep when the opportunity presented itself. He said not a word as the helicopter landed and they all went there separate ways. He had a lot of paperwork he had to file for this sudden trip, the sooner he got that done, the sooner he could rest for the new day...


	11. Obsession (Part 1)

When Aerith awoke, it was with what felt like the worst hangover of her life. A sharp spiking pain behind her eyes, her magic reserves completely spent, and she even felt physically drained. Praying for and casting Holy took so much more out of her than she realized. Would it always be like this?

**YOUNG. UNTESTED BODY. UNENDURING.**

Aerith jolted upright in her bed at the Planets obnoxiously and painfully loud voice, clutching her head. "Hng..."

Well... she had her answer. Mako or not, her body was far to weak to properly handle Holy and keep on going. If she had been in danger after using Holy, she would have been defenseless. Weak, weak weak weak! She rubbed her forehead and grumbled to herself. She was so tired of this, of being unable to do _anything_ on her own. Goddess, one of the others probably had to carry her back to the helicopter and to her room. She hoped no one outside of the group had seen it, she didn't need to be seen as a damsel in distress in SOLDIER, she'd never be taken seriously.

She sighed and swung her legs off the bed, pausing to see two bottles of Ether and a note from Zack left for her.

_Thought you might need a pick-me-up after how wiped you were yesterday, cheers!_

_-Zack_

_P.S. Genesis is all over the place, he's been training (terrorizing) cadets even! Angeal's calling him Puppy 2.0! He's stealing my nickname! :(_

Aerith smiled softly, a gentle giggle escaping her lips. "Leave it to Zack to uplift the mood."

She sighed, downed the two bottles of Ether, and rose from the bed, headache lessening slightly. She grabbed a spare uniform, hopped in the shower, and was done in a quick five minutes (which she was proud of! Not including the times when Avalanche went stretches without a place to bathe, she had always taken way to long in her opinion in her original life, SOLDIERs couldn't take all day in one.). She glanced at a clock above the door and froze.

"Noon?!" she exclaimed, "Why didn't anyone wake me?"

Oh man... Crawford was going to give her hell for missing his training!

She was scrambling out the door and ran face first into Zack, both of them colliding and flopping down to the ground. "Woah! Morning there Aerith!"

"Sorry Zack," she said, scrambling to her feet, "I'm way way to late for training!"

"Erm," said Zack, scratching his head, "It's Saturday. No classes or training on the weekend unless you want to hit a gym or a training room something."

She paused mid-step, face turning red, "Oh... right..."

Zack pushed himself off the ground and gave her a cheeky grin. "Hey it's cool. I loose track of time, and the day, tons of times. Angeal always gives me crap about it."

Aerith gave him a small smile before frowning. "So... we don't have any duties or anything on the weekend?"

"Generally not when we're home and not out at Wutai. We can sometimes get assigned missions if they are critical, but we're given comp time for it," said Zack, "Just keep your PHS on you."

"Erm... I don't have a PHS," she said.

Zack cocked his head, baffled, "Huh? Did you not get one in orientation... oh right."

He grinned. "You didn't get one. So you probably don't have any of the stuff set up."

"Stuff...?" she asked.

"PHS, bank account, SOLDIER benefits, all that crap," said Zack with a wave of his hand, "They set you up pretty good when you enter SOLDIER, only gets better when you rise through the ranks."

Aerith didn't particularly care about money or benefits, but... who knows if they'd come in handy. "So... how would I get all that set up?"

Zack turned and started down the hall. "C'mon, I'll take you to Employee Services. Not a lot of people there today, but they have weekend coverage, I know the secretary."

Know apparently turned into having flirted with the young woman before. Aerith watched, a bit stunned, as Zack shamelessly used his adorable puppy eyes and irresistible charm to woo the secretary into helping Aerith out as a favor. Gosh... had Zack really been such a flirt? He _better_ not have flirted with other girls when they had been dating in her previous life. Couldn't of course ask _her_ Zack that question. It was still a bit... jarring... to see how much her first love had been such a ladies man. Perhaps she had just been naive when she was younger, but Zack had made her feel so special... how long had it taken she wondered, for her to become someone he loved rather than just another interest...

She left the office about an hour later a lot less happy than she had been going in, with her new PHS in her pocket and a folder containing her bank and benefits information under her arm. She kept silent as Zack happily chatted alongside her as they walked, slightly tuning him out. She had experience with that after all, even as a spirit in the lifestream, her Zack had talked, _a lot,_ and since they were dead, there wasn't exactly a lot to do but talk and watch the living world.

"You okay Aerith?" asked Zack, "Awfully quiet."

"Just a bit tired from yesterday," she half-lied.

"Yeah, that lightshow sure was something," he said cheekily, "Wanna go get something to eat then? Growing SOLDIERs gotta eat."

She gave a small smile and lied. "Not really hungry right now, I'm going to go back to bed."

Zack pouted. "Awww, okay. Well, see ya later!"

Of course, once he was out of sight, she huffed and scowled a little bit. "Jezz Zack... doing that in front of me..."

She trailed off, frowning. Why wouldn't he though? He **wasn't** _her_ Zack. He wasn't dating her, she wasn't his girlfriend, and he had even said when they first met that he wouldn't pursue her when the past hurt so much. Even if it did hurt to see it, she had no right to get all bent out of shape with this Zack looking at other women. Hell, she wasn't even as old as she had been before, it was almost two years before they had met originally. She was at most thirteen years old, while mentally she was older, it was way to early physically to be going on a tilt over a boy...

Oh wait, thirteen...

She wanted to walk to the nearest wall and smash her head against it over and over again. Puberty again... oh great...

Mood sufficiently fouled, she moved to lean against the wall, pulling out her PHS and fiddling with it. It was... a bit better than the one they shared in AVALANCHE, but easy enough to figure out. She looked up a map of the building, found a gym, and then made for it after dropping off the folder and hiding it between her bed's mattresses. She figured that burning her mood away with working out might be a good idea, Goddess knows she needed to get stronger regardless. She walked in, eyes flickering to see a few people, some SOLDIERs and a few regular employees, there. Figured it wouldn't be empty, she didn't really want anyone to see her bumbling through the gym. She glanced around, a little uncertain. She had never hit a gym once in her previous life. She really had no idea where to start...

"Oh? What does the fair maiden seek in such a place as this?" came a smooth eloquent voice, "I didn't think you'd be one to ogle training men."

Aerith turned and shot a glare at a rather gleeful looking Genesis who passed her and strode into the gym. "I'm not! I wanted to exercise. I kind of need it."

Genesis glanced back, eyebrow raised. "Why are you just standing there then?"

Her face turned a little red. "Well... I've never been in a gym before."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Ah. Well, I _suppose_ I can be _bothered_ to help you out."

"Someones a little ungrateful," she muttered under her breath.

Genesis flashed her a grin. "I have appearances to keep, I **_am_ ** the terror of third classes and cadets after all."

He turned and glanced around the gym for a moment. "Mmm, it has been some time since I've been here myself. Coming to stretch out and test my restored body out before the pillow fight later today will do me good."

"Pillow fight...?" she asked.

He turned his head, grin widening. "Three way fight between myself, Angeal, and Sephiroth."

Which would thankfully not turn out the way the original fight that started the Copy War had.

"Anyway," he said, flapping his hand, "What do you want to work on? Lower body strength? Upper body strength?"

She frowned for a moment, before remembering the Planet's words when she woke up. "Endurance."

"Ah cardio training, treadmill then," he said, pointing to one side of the gym, "Though, to be frank, the stairs would be better. Goddess, I remember my endurance training. I had to run up the stairs of the Shinra building, take the elevator back down, and then run them again over and over again. Leaves you a dreadful sweaty mess."

He gave her an appraising glance. "Treadmill first however, you are not ready for the stairs. You'd get a quarter way up at best, even with the Mako, before collapsing."

She huffed a little bit, shooting him a glare, before walking over to the... treadmill he called it? She stepped on it, glanced over the controls for a moment, and then pressed the 'On' button. She yelped as the machine started moving under her at a rapid pace. She grabbed the handles of the machine in a brief panic before she started running along. Whoever had been using it prior definitely did **NOT** leave it on a low setting. She didn't change it though, she needed it.

She ran for about an hour, and figured the only reason she had been able to was because of the Mako in her. Goddess... was working out supposed to really burn so much? Her legs were jello at the moment. It didn't exactly hurt, felt a little sore, but that feeling... actually didn't feel to bad, kind of good actually, as odd as a burning sensation feeling good sounded. She turned off the machine, huffing and puffing, before briefly going to a water fountain down the hall and then returning for another run. She honestly had nothing else to do on a weekend. She had no other responsibilities aside from getting strong enough to deal with Jenova if it came down to it. She had hopes that they would find Jenova sleeping and simply deal with it...

But relying solely on hoping was foolish, and potentially deadly.

She was so drastically far behind even just the 3rd Class SOLDIERs. If Jenova woke up and she met the Calamity anytime soon, Aerith would either be a stain on the ground, or infected and turned into a slave to the Calamity's will. She _**HAD** _ to get stronger as quickly as possible.

So she ran, and ran, and ran hour by hour...

* * *

...Until she suddenly woke up in the infirmary, just a tad confused.

"So... going back to sleep?" came Zack's voice, "Not sure this is what you meant."

She turned her head, sighting Zack staring at her from his perch leaning against the wall next to her cot.

"Genesis dumped you here and left me a text, said something about you not knowing your limits and that you're my mess to deal with," said Zack, eyebrow raised.

Aerith shrugged and looked away. "Just wanted to do some training."

"Well, having a spotter, or just going to the gym with a friend, is a lot better, sometimes you don't realize how long you've been going for and let things go to long," said Zack, "Because Genesis sure as heck doesn't fit that bill."

"Just wasn't paying attention," she mumbled.

Zack gave her a skeptical look. "If you say so, now, how about we put some food in your belly. Cuz I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten something since before we took that field trip last night. Mako helps a bit, but, you really need something for the Mako to build on. The Cadet Program whipped me into shape before I even went in for my shots. Mako amplified that."

Aerith made a brief attempt to divert attention, giving out an attempt at a teasing tone, "Amplified is a big word for you Zack."

Zack grinned. "Owch, not nice. I do have a vo-cab-ulary you know!"

"Really?" she teased.

Zack nodded before giving her a knowing look and offering a hand. "Ahuh, now, back on topic... let's get you something to eat."

Aerith scowled, but took the hand and let him haul her up. She wobbled a bit, he legs still feeling

like jello, but followed him out of the room after a quick check in with the on-duty nurse. She noted a few SOLDIERs snickering in her direction when they walked in, one of them calling out, "Nice face-plant on the treadmill earlier girly!"

"No need to be rude, was her first time," scolded Zack, earning more snickers from the SOLDIERs.

Aerith's face burned, but she ignored them, striding to get in line and grab a late lunch... or an early dinner, whatever time it was. This was just what she had wanted to avoid, gossip was obviously a thing in SOLDIER, none of them were going to take her seriously anytime soon. Not that they would a thirteen year old girl anyway...

This day was steadily getting worse and worse.

When they finished and left, Zack made an offer, "So, want me to coach you through some of the stuff Angeal had me do early on?"

Might as well let someone who knows what they were doing guide her...

"Alright," she said.

He led her to the elevator, down to the bottom, out the lobby, and to the side entrance. She glanced up a seemingly endless flight of stairs. She vaguely remember Tifa and Barret complaining about having to climb that. Oh boy...

"First things first, before any exercising, is warm ups," he said, holding up two fingers, "Either stretching for range of motion if you need it, or just light warm up exercises to get your blood pumping and muscles ready for use."

"For this specifically, a bit of both, first, get those legs up!" he said, putting his own leg up on a step, stretching it out, and then switching it out.

Aerith followed suit, and did so quietly for a few minutes.

"Alright, now, a quick warm up," he said, walking up the first set of stairs then turning and walking down at an even pace, "Light version of the real climb for five minutes. That'll get you ready."

She found it kind of awkward to do this repeatedly for five minutes, but she trusted he knew what he was doing.

When their time was done, he motioned upwards. "Alright, first goal, ten flights of stairs then a few minute break, rinse repeat till we reach the top."

Aerith made a face.

He grinned. "Hey, at least I'm not making you do the entire thing without rest. Now up you go!"

With that, Aerith began her ascent. Zack moved up at her side, keeping his pace exact to her. He thankfully didn't talk much, because after the first few sets of ten, even with the breaks, it was rough. Mostly, he gave advice. Pace herself. Control her breathing, don't over exert. If need be, take a quick moment for a breather even before they reached the rest point. In his own words, "We gotta figure out your limits, and then slowly increase them from there."

Which really weren't that high as a thirteen year old girl. Goddess... the Mako didn't do nearly as much as she thought it would on its own. SOLDIERs were a lot more than just people pumped full of the planet's lifeblood. A real, true SOLDIER built from cadet onward was something potentially years in the making. She was so far behind...

Aerith put a more determined step into her pace, taking shorter breaks at the rest stops. And when they finally reached the top, she went back down the elevator to do it again. Zack stayed with her the 2nd time, but left the 3rd, saying something about having promised a date with the secretary from earlier.

"Remember," he said before he left, "Know your limits, if it starts to hurt, or you feel like you can't really go on, stop. I'll text you later to see how it went."

More like to see if she had collapsed again. Aerith huffed at that but resumed her climb. She was tempted to call it quits, she had been at it most of the day since she woke up. But she _**HAD** _ to get stronger, she had to! So up she went again, sweating like crazy by the time Zack texted her about two hours later. She took that as her cue to stop for the day. She went for diner, and flopped on her bed when she got back to her room, passing out out of exhaustion in minutes...

* * *

Aerith found herself repeating the previous day the next day after breakfast for her last day of the weekend. One good thing she did get from Mako, was the recovery. Simple night's rest and most of the soreness from yesterday was gone. Shame it hadn't done much against the Holy headache yesterday. Regardless, she was up and at it to go climb stairs again. On the way to the side entrance, she overhead someone mentioning the trio absolutely destroyed one of the training rooms. Guess they had 'fun' in their pillow fight.

What she was doing sure wasn't fun, but unfortunately necessary. So she did it, for the next few hours, until she ran into Zack at the top of the stairs, watching her ascend. "You're from Sector 5, right? Why don't you go visit your friends there rather than waste the weekend away?"

Aerith ascended the last few steps, wiping sweat from her brow, eyes furrowed in thought. Friends? She couldn't honestly remember any specific person... aside from _her_ Zack, that had really been her friend. Sure she was acquainted with a lot of the people... but... she had been just 'the Flower Girl'. No one really interacted with her, especially with her not-so-subtle Turk guards watching her every move and anyone she interacted with. It scared people away, along with her general 'oddness' of listening to flowers. Made people think she wasn't right in the head.

Her flowers, both at the church and at home, hadn't grown so well just because she was an Ancient. But because she spent _hours_ every single day painstakingly tending to them... because she had no other real way to spend her time... she occasionally helped out at the Sector 7 Orphanage, and sometimes interacted with the homeless who slept in the back of her church if the Turks didn't chase them away. People in generally were just to busy for her; she could recall trying to sell her flowers, and most people brushing her off. So aside from her adoptive mother...

It had been a rather lonely existence. It's why she had treasured _her_ Zack's focus so much... and without Avalanche... she really had no one at the moment.

"Don't have any," was all she said, striding past him.

"Huh," said Zack, following, "Odd. I mean aside from yesterday you seem pretty nice and caring. Kind of surprised you don't."

Aerith was slow to respond, not liking the memories that came back. "Being nice and naive gets you taken advantage of in the Slums, and I was both those in spades when I was younger. I'm merely fortunate I had Turks watching out for me, otherwise..."

She could recall times she would have been killed and left dead in a pile of scrap for what few coins of gil in her pocket.

Lured into a back alley and almost raped.

Offered a 'quick fix', an attempt to deceive her into drugs, becoming an ever paying addict.

Stolen once or twice when times were hard, contemplating a criminal life if only to make it easier for her poor adoptive mother.

Each time the Turks had interjected. Goddess, she didn't want to think where she'd have been in her original life if not for them.

"...otherwise things could have been much worse," was all she said aloud.

Each lesson had made her withdraw from the potential of getting to personally know and befriend her fellow slum dwellers. Because there were so few who wouldn't sell her out or betray her for a quick gil.

"Mmmm," mused Zack before thumbing the door, "Wanna go drink with me an the guys?"

She blinked. "I'm like, _thirteen_."

Zack grinned. "SOLDIER. Mako makes it almost impossible to get drunk."

"I was referring to the age limit," she said.

"Again, SOLDIER," he said cheekily, "We get around like, half the damn rules."

Aerith strode past him sourly. "That's not necessarily a good thing."

"Aww c'mon," said Zack, following, "You don't have to drink, but come and hang out a bit."

"No thanks Zack," she answered firmly, "I have to much catching up to do."

"You only get to be young and have fun once Aerith," said Zack.

She paused and turned to look at him steadily, whispering a quiet, "I know."

Whatever he saw in her eyes made him pale slightly and take a step back, looking unsettled. With that, Aerith turned and strode away, ready to resume her endurance training again. She had her chance at youth once. There was to much at stake to greedily take a second chance on something _unnecessary_. It would take to long to catch up, and she had absolutely no clue when things would go south (and they most certainly would if she had to guess). So she'd train for a few years, and damn it, if nothing had happened by the time she _**WAS** _ ready, she'd go hunt down Jenova on her own!


	12. Obsession (Part 2)

She was at it again, wasting another weekend away.

It was all Sephiroth could do but shake his head in bemusement. Being who the Ancient was, he kept a eye on her. For the last few weeks, almost a month now, when she wasn't in training or other lessons, she had been throwing herself into exercising to an inane degree. It was almost... obsessive. At first, he hadn't paid much attention to it, and in fact had approved. She was far behind her peers. Had she been in the cadet program with this kind of attitude, she would have been on the right track to easily make her way into SOLDIER.

Yet...

There was an old saying he followed; he couldn't for the life of him remember where he heard it from, maybe Professor Faremis. It was that to much of anything was a bad thing. It was an oddly amusing saying, or theory he supposed; it even had scientific proof. Eating to much could lead to becoming overweight and a great deal of health issues. Drinking to much water could lead to water intoxication. Taking to many pain medications could lead to dependency and addiction, to many repetitive motions could lead to carpel tunnel syndrome, and it went on and on from there.

The Ancient had suffered from this initially when she started her routine, Genesis had been laughing about it for hours and talking about her 'face plant'. He personally didn't see what was so funny about it, it was to be expected. She had suddenly and jarringly adjusted her daily routine, the human body didn't generally cope with that very well. It was better to ease into new things. But she had since adapted, and adapted well.

SOLDIERs could get around such limits to a large degree. The Mako in their systems allowed them to get away with things they really shouldn't be able to. A young thirteen year old girl should not be able to do the Shinra Stair Run multiple times a day with ease, yet she was. She had started to put on muscle, and was continuing to do so, more than he could recall seeing from females of similar age while out on missions or during public events.

He spared a quick glance into the gym; she alternated between the stairs and the gym, she was on maximum setting on the treadmill at the moment from what he saw. Yet... she was also alone. Unlike other SOLDIERs who exercised in groups or pairs, she did it alone. She was not bonding or even befriending her fellow SOLDIER, and that could have repercussions down the road. Not that SOLDIER as a whole was helping in that matter. From what little eavesdropping he had partaken in, many were irritated to find her here, especially when she bypassed the Cadet Program. Some were developing a slight grudging respect for her _enthusiasm_ in training, but that was about it.

Save for Zackery, he wasn't sure she really had a friend or acquaintance here. He hadn't seen her interact with the Turks either, or Valentine, as much as the man shadowed her. Though, he wasn't sure she was aware he kept more of an eye on her than Sephiroth himself did. Regardless, isolation was dangerous to a SOLDIER, they were already divergent from the general community and even the regular army. Being separate from their fellow SOLDIER as well was asking for trouble. Even he had Genesis and Angeal as friends and comrades, and he supposed Zackery as well. Angeal had been making a fuss about getting him invited to their weekly gathering/drinking on Sunday nights. Sephiroth wasn't quite sure about that, but, he could admit Zackery's volunteering to 'test out' the Ancient's blood and scold them on nearly ' _pulling a Hojo_ ' had earned him a great deal of respect in his eyes.

The Ancient to his knowledge had no one at the moment, and was distant to Zackery, someone she had said she had loved in her 'visions'. Being completely alone and _obsessed_ with her current routine would see her waking up one day to realize she was friendless and had no one she was close with. Even if they defeated Jenova, where would that leave her? He had seen SOLDIERs stationed in Wutai go mad over being alone, the sole survivor of their squads or regiments. Considering she was the last Ancient alive, and had actually seen the world end in these 'visions', it was a legitimate concern.

Her current actions were unhealthy for her in the long run, and it was his duty and responsibilities to his SOLDIERs to see that remedied.

He strode into the mostly empty gym and cleared his throat. "3rd Class Gainsborough."

Her head turned sharply for a moment before turning back and shutting down the machine, she approached and saluted. "Yes sir?"

At least she was learning formalities he supposed. "Walk with me."

She followed in behind him as he turned and left the room. "Is something wrong? Did you find Hojo or..."

"No," he said curtly, "I simply wish to... talk."

"Okay...," she said slowly, sounding a little confused, "About what?"

"You are from Sector 5, correct?" he asked.

"The slums? Yeah," she said, "What about it?"

"I've noticed," he began carefully as to not offend, "You haven't left the building to visit your home since you arrived here."

The Ancient shrugged. "I'll do so eventually, I've got to get stronger before Jenova becomes active."

"There is no guarantee we wont find her before then," he pointed out.

"Can't risk it," she said.

"And your... adoptive mother I believe it was? Surely you miss her," he stated.

Again, she shrugged. "Sure, but I'm training to make sure she has a future. I'll have time to see her once this is all over."

Sephiroth resisted the urge to groan. She wasn't going to make this easy, was she? When this is all over could turn into decades down the road.

Though, he was curious about something. He had read her file the Turks had on her; there was a piece of information missing, who her birth parents were. He had asked Tseng once, but the man said it was need to know information, that only he, Director Verdot, the President, and Hojo had known. Perhaps it was circumventing the chain of command, but, he was curious if the Ancient would be willing to satisfy his curiosity.

"Forgive me if I intrude upon a family matter, but what of your birth parents?" he asked, "Are you estranged with them? Or are they..."

"Gone," said the Ancient flatly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he offered, though he noted she hadn't been very descriptive in what 'gone' meant, dead or did they leave her? "What were their names?"

"Well, my birth mother's name was Ifalna," said the Ancient.

Sephiroth whirled, disbelief on his face. "What did you say?"

The Ancient paused. "Ifalna, that was her name."

Sephiroth stared at her, scrutinizing her face, chagrin hitting him hard. "How could I not have seen it... you look just like her."

"Wait, you knew my mother?" asked Aerith in disbelief.

"Ifalna... was one of the only people I interacted with in the labs outside of the scientists back when I was young," he admitted, "With her and Gast, before he left and she disappeared, they made it somewhat tolerable. Things... degraded... when Hojo took over."

Sephiroth frowned, a thought occurring. "If she was your mother, then Ifalna was an Ancient, so she had to know Jenova was no Ancient; what was she doing on the Jenova Project?"

Aerith tilted her head back in thought, eyebrows furrowing. "Maybe she was trying to stop it? She did convince my father to leave the project after all."

Well, that drew Sephiroth's interest. "Your father was also part of the Jenova Project?"

She gave him a peculiar look. "Yes? You just mentioned him."

Sephiroth couldn't help it, he gave a start and stared at her hard; _Surely_ he hadn't heard that right. "Pardon?"

"Gast Faremis was my father," she said simply.

Sephiroth had to make a concentrated effort to keep himself from gaping at her. Aerith Gainsborough was the daughter of the two people who had actually _cared_ back when he was a child, who had seen him as more than just an experiment or a weapon to be. The two he credited for keeping him alive and holding back Hojo's more dangerous tests and experimentation until he was old enough to handle them. They had kept him sane, had given him brief moments of happiness in that miserable existence he had in the labs.

He cleared his throat, struggling to find something to say. "Why do you go by Gainsborough then?"

Aerith frowned, a flash of pain crossed her face, of an old and deep wound. "My adoptive mother took me in when my birth mother died, and I took on her name."

Sephiroth felt like he had been punched; he whispered, "Ifalna is dead?"

"She... was killed when we were escaping Hojo's labs when I was seven," muttered Aerith, bitterness in her voice, "She was shot just before we made it onto a train to take us below the plate."

Sephiroth's fists clenched tightly, his vision turning red for a moment. They had been in the building the _**ENTIRE TIME**_ he had been training for SOLDIER prior to the Wutai War, and he hadn't a clue. Been experimented on and who knows what else. He wasn't one to invoke Genesis's goddess, but...

Goddess... Aerith had grown up in a lab, just like him... he didn't know if that was a comfort or not having had someone else who knew what that was like. He wouldn't wish it on anyone.

But wait...

"What about Gast?" demanded Sephiroth, "How could he have let this happen?"

Aerith closed her eyes and sighed. "I never knew my father. Hojo shot and killed him when I was a few weeks old."

Gast...

Gast was _dead_...

" ** _Hojo_** ," snarled Sephiroth, shaking in a rage he hadn't felt in _so long_ , "There won't be a death _slow enough_ for him."

Aerith, to her credit, didn't seem phased by his rage, only curious, "My birth parents meant a great deal to you, didn't they?"

Sephiroth closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out, bottling his anger up for the training room later, and reopened his eyes. "Yes, they did. And I owe it to them to try and help you with your current... issue."

She blinked. "Issue?"

"Your exercising, your training," he said.

She looked abashed. "Ah... am I doing it wrong? I thought I was doing fine."

"You are," he said simply, "But at the cost of everything else. You have done nothing but eat, sleep, and train for almost a month. While not uncommon for SOLDIERs, most at least take the weekends to themselves or relax when off-duty."

Aerith scowled. "I have to catch up, I have to become strong enough to matter this time!"

There it was again. _This time_ she said. He filed away her pretense phrasing and instead focused on the matter at hand. "For one, you are a _child_ Aerth. You are not expected, required, or allowed to do anything dangerous for at bare minimum two years. Most Cadets arrive at fifteen, and if they make SOLDIER, don't even go on their first missions until they are sixteen or seventeen."

That apparently was the wrong thing to say; her scowl turned downright fierce, "I don't care! Once I get strong enough, if I have to go out on my own to track down and stop Jenova, I will!"

He stared at her in disbelief. "You cannot be serious."

She glared full force at him. "I am serious, _deadly serious_."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. This problem needed to be nipped in the bud, _now_ , before she ended up getting herself killed, or worse, captured. "Aerith, what makes you think you, let alone any one person can handle the threat Jenova represents?"

Aerith scoffed. "Says the guy who could take her if it came down to it."

"I wouldn't want to even risk that," he said, staring at her like she had grown a second head, did she not have even a moderate sense of tactics or risk?

Aerith blinked a few times. "Why not?"

"If she can affect my mind, I would want others there who could snap me out of it's influence for one," stated Sephiroth, "For two, you told us it wiped out the Ancients, almost their entire race, by infecting and converting them to it's side. If I were to face it, Jenova would most likely have an army of infected with her. Taking on both it and an army at once is a chance I would not take without SOLDIER at my back unless I absolutely had to. And anyone else, including you, who tried that on their own would most likely die."

Aerith gave him a grim smile. "If my life is the price to pay to weaken or kill Jenova then so be. Death won't stop me, and merely destroying Jenova's body and cells doesn't stop her taint of the lifestream. I'd still have my work cut out for me even while dead."

Sephiroth _stared_ at her, at someone who was so completely and utterly unaffected and nonchalant about dying, with a mixture of disbelief, and perhaps awe. He could admit, if he had to die, then he would face it head on with dignity, honor, and courage. But that didn't mean he _wanted_ to die, that he didn't _care_ about dying.

Then another thought struck him. "Do you truly care so little about your own life? About those your parting would hurt? I imagine your adoptive mother would be devastated."

A shadow crossed her face. "They'd persevere and move on. They did bef... in the vision, despite their pain."

He narrowed his eyes. "That's rather _inconsiderate_ of you, and you didn't answer my first question."

Aerith shrugged. "I'm a servant of the planet, if I must die for it to live, then I will do so willingly."

"You are not a pawn nor a tool to be thrown away at a moment's notice," said Sephiroth, trying to keep the critical edge out of his voice, "You are a young woman with your entire future ahead of you."

"A future that doesn't matter so long as Jenova is alive," she shot back, irritation bleeding across her face.

"And that's an excuse to not consider the worth of your own life?" he shot back, equally irritated, "You are young, untested, and inexperienced. But one day, that will no longer be true. You may become a powerful asset to SOLDIER, that's _**IF** _ your impatience doesn't kill you, or worse, deliver you into the enemy's hands. That would be the worse outcome."

Aerith crossed her arms. "How so? What could Jenova realistically do with me? Use me as bait? I'm immune to her taint."

He scoffed. "You described it as a virus. Viruses evolve, and you hand delivering yourself into it's waiting arms could give it all the time to figure out a way around your immunity, thus giving yourself over to be infected and enslaved, and ruin the building immunity SOLDIER is getting to Jenova with your blood."

Aerith looked incredulous. "You can't seriously think that..."

She paused, a distant look in her eyes, and then froze up, her face paling.

 _Finally_ it appeared logic had gotten through to her.

"Is that... how _that_ future came to pass?" she whispered to herself, horror rolling off her in waves.

Sephiroth's eyebrows furrowed. Or not, what was she going on about now?

"But I... I don't...," began Aerith haltingly, "I... don't know what else to do. What... what else can I do to prepare to stop Jenova?"

"Wait," he said simply, "Be patient, and don't act alone, we have no clue when it will be found, or if worst comes to worst, active. Stressing yourself for no reason is foolish, and for goodness sake, take a day off once in a while, even _**I**_ do. Stressed SOLDIERs make mistakes after all. Mingle with your fellow SOLDIERs. Go see your mother, when is the last time you saw her? Does she even know where you are? That you are in SOLDIER?"

Aerith looked abashed, averting her eyes. "Erm..."

He pointed down the hall. "It's the weekend, take it off and visit your family."

"Is that an order?" she said, trying meekly to adopt a teasing tone.

He wasn't going to let her get out of a rebuke that easily. "If I have to make it one, then I will. Go."

"Yes sir." she muttered sullenly before saluting and taking her leave.

He watched her go, slightly bemused, but didn't move otherwise, standing in the hallway alone, a single thought repeating in his head.

_Ifalna and Gast were dead._

It filled him with such loss and frustration. He thought back to when they had both vanished, how hurt and abandoned he'd felt at the time. He had never been told one way or the other what had happened. He had figured they had either retired, or moved onto another project. Perhaps it was a delusion; not hearing about either of them for over a decade was a good indication of their fate. With the confirmed knowledge of their loss...

It was all he could do to mutter, "Why didn't you take me with you? I could have kept you both safe... I would have been free of Hojo..."

He pitied Aerith for her loss of her mother, and then his thoughts turned towards his own. How easily he could have continued believing Jenova was his mother, never knowing the truth about Lucrecia if not for Aerith...

Then he winced at the thought of the scientist. Speaking of avoiding family... he had hardly interacted with his own mother outside of the Science Department. He just... didn't know _how_. He wasn't exactly given the opportunity to observe families in their natural habitats. He knew families were supposed to be 'close', but what exactly did that entail? The only example he honestly had was SOLDIER comradery. Still... as suddenly as he gained her back, losing his mother could happen just as quickly. He shouldn't push it off. Not to mention... he just...

_Ifalna and Gast were dead._

...needed a distraction...


	13. Mothers

Insufferable man!

Aerith scowled a little, picking her way through a familiar path through the slums towards her old home. Needling into her past, saying she was training to much, didn't value her own life, calling her inconsiderate, ordering her around like she was a child!

Hmph!

While she was surprised Sephiroth even knew her birth parents, and it was 'good' that he finally knew their fate, it had become a sore subject to her after her death, or at least on her mother's side. She had a faint hope, when she drifted in the lifestream dead in her prior life, that she'd get to see Ilfana again. It never happened. She had been left as the only Ancient once again, first alive, then conscious while dead...

She cared for her adoptive mother, she truly did, but, she wanted the woman _safe_ first before anything else. She had never seen her again after escaping Midgar her first life. She had missed her yes, but the knowledge that she had been trying to safeguard both her and the planet had helped with that. Knowing just truly how much was at stack now made her more determined than ever. Even if she wasn't going to rush off on her own...

_(which in hindsight had been an incredibly stupid idea to entertain)_

... she could still be training. Sephiroth had said she didn't value her own life, but Aerith did. She knew exactly how much it was worth. The Planet had chosen her as it's failsafe. She was the last Ancient, and the first Ancient SOLDIER, who knows what powers she would develop. She was the only living person that could call forth Holy. She could manipulate the lifestream even after she died. In fact, her death might _have_ to happen if things went bad enough and the Planet needed her help fighting Jenova within the Lifestream. Her life, and death, might end up being worth the entire Planet. She didn't want to die, training so hard was a strong indication of her wanting to survive, or so she would have normally assumed, she was just...

She prepared to die.

She had been ever since coming back.

She knew it was a possible, _likely_ , outcome.

She honestly hadn't bothered really getting used to be alive again...

She shook her head as her home came into view. She smiled faintly at the sight. It had been a long, very long, time since she had last seen it. Though, there weren't nearly as many flowers there as there had been before. Most likely wouldn't be without her there, nor without Zack to help plant them. Ah well... maybe when this was all over, if she was alive, she'd leave Midgar and SOLDIER and start a floral shop somewhere.

She walked up to her door and opened it, pausing uneasily at the abnormal sight within. There was clutter on the counter, the table was dusty and had leftover plates on it. Footwear was just haphazardly kicked to the side. The floor didn't look like it had been swept or mopped for a long while. And at the head of the table, Elmyra Gainsborough sat, her head bent over, staring down into her hands, an absolutely miserable look on her face.

Good heavens... what in the world...

"Mom?" Aerith questioned uncertainly.

The woman's head turned sharply, and then her eyes went wide with shock, then pure relief and joy.

"AERITH!" cried out her Mother, rushing through the door and embracing her in a tightly fierce hug, starting to sob into her shoulder, "Oh thank heavens you're alright. I hadn't heard anything for weeks, the Turks were all gone, no one had told me anything, I... I thought either Shinra had taken you or... or... that I had lost you."

And then all of Aerith's irritation at Sephiroth bled away into pure utter shame. "I... I'm sorry mom, I should have come back sooner."

"C-come back?" Elmyra whispered, then grew angry, "Come back? Aerith! Did you sneak off to a friends or something for a few weeks and not tell me?!"

"No! Heavens no mom!" said Aeirth, "I... went back to Shinra."

The woman's face paled. "Why?"

Aerith motioned inside, and they both stepped in, closing the door behind them. "I had to. I couldn't let things continue as they were. Something awful is coming, and I have to do whatever it takes to stop it."

Elmyra looked at her, perplexed. "Aerith... you're a child, let those who are grown handle whatever comes."

Aerith shook her head. "They'll make it worse if they don't have someone guiding them. If I didn't do something now, then it would be to late."

Her mother opened her mouth, and then froze for a moment, hand slowly reaching up to cup Aerith's cheek, looking closer at her eyes. "They're glowing... far more than normal."

"I... I joined SOLDIER," said Aerith softly.

Elmyra shakily sat at the table. "Oh Aerith..."

"I did it willingly mom," she said softly, "I had to, I had to become strong enough."

Her mother stared at her in confusion. "Aerith... what..."

Aerith gave her a patient look. "I know its hard to take in..."

Elmyra sputtered a bit. "You think? Aerith... you disappear for weeks, suddenly waltz back in, having gone willingly back to Shinra, joined SOLDIER, and you're acting almost nothing like the daughter I knew before you vanished."

Aerith rolled her eyes. "I can't be that different."

Elmyra gave her a thin look. "I've spent less than five minutes in the same room as you, and I can list plenty of ways. Shall I?"

Aerith pursed her lips, growing agitated. "Mom..."

"One, you are acting more serious than you ever have before. Two, you for some reason have an almighty opinion of yourself that you must take on whatever the hell problem you think is coming and that no one else can," said Elmyra, giving her a stern yet worried look, "Three, you went back to Shinra, you're terrified of Shinra. Forth is the same, except SOLDIER in place of Shinra. Five, you talked down to me like I'm a child that is still in school. Six, you have never rolled your eyes at me before, and trust me, I'd know, it's a mother's thing..."

"Mom!" Aerith exclaimed.

"Seven, you just interrupted me while I was speaking, I always remember you as quiet, patient, and waiting to speak until you had listened and thought over a response. Aerith..." said Elmyra, exasperated, "I haven't even see you smile yet or say you're happy to be home... I can see the bags under your eyes and the stress on your face. What is going on with you?"

Aerith went silent. Then, she moved to sit down and slumped into her seat, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Mom... I... I died and came back."

Elmyra blinked a few times. "Come again?"

She wouldn't lie to her mother, or give a half truth. Elmyra... had always understood, even if she didn't understand completely, she always tried, always listened, and never told a soul. "I died, the Planet was about to die, so it sent me back..."

* * *

Sephiroth was not nervous.

Not for something so trivial as meeting with a scientist, a mere woman.

Even if she was his own mother.

He was just... _apprehensive_. He had done some tentative research online. Videos of family gatherings. Basic summaries and examples of the roles a mother and son were supposed to have. It all seemed so... strange. Aside from the fact it was unwise to simply throw out what was tried and proven information... he wasn't sure he should use any of it. He was quite sure that allowing experimentation on ones _own unborn child_ wasn't what a mother should do. And he without a doubt didn't fit into the role of a normal son.

He was half a mind to not even bother and simply treat her as a normal coworker of Shinra, yet... he _wanted this_. There were so few things in his life that were _his_ , that he could call his own, things that so many others took for granted. Many had been deemed unnecessary or distracting; he had never particularly been allowed personal effects. He didn't actually even own the clothes on his back, they had been designed and given to him by Shinra. His blade technically wasn't his either, but he'd be damned before he let anyone take that away. Everything in his apartment was Shinra issued.

Without them, he honestly had nothing. Which he assumed was _the point_ , in order to try to keep him there. He had a bank account, but had never been allowed to develop hobbies or interests that weren't guided, desired, or funded by Shinra, and as such, had no idea what to spend any of his money on aside from food. Even his friends, as much as he treasured them, had initially been thrust upon him. After all, it was beneficial to the Company and SOLDIER for their top SOLDIERs got along. Shinra was basically his entire life, and it irked him to no end sometimes. Other times he simply didn't care, being a SOLDIER was usually enough, but when it wasn't...

Those days he often spent darkly brooding.

He considered it a valuable skill to be able to brood on the move, as it allowed him to force himself into something he didn't want to do but had to. He found himself outside of Dr. Crescent's office suddenly, and it would be rather awkward to have come all this way, stand outside the door, then turn around. So, he simply reached forward and knocked.

"Just a minute!" came his mother's voice.

Sometimes, if Sephiroth paused like he was now and waiting, it would hit him all over again. The revelations of his birth and the Jenova Project, what was done to his friends, that he actually had a living breathing mother. It was one of the few things that made him close his eyes, take a deep visible breath, and let it out. There were few things in his life that had the potential to actually overwhelm him, he allowed himself the weakness in this regard. Normal people would have, what was the word Genesis used, flipped? Yes, 'flipped' by now. So much to take in, in so little time considering his duties and responsibilities as a SOLDIER.

Small mercy that men like Angeal existed to confide and vent in, especially considering the man's own trouble adapting to the truth.

The door opened and Lucrecia gave a start to see him there, then a hesitant smile, "Umm, g-good afternoon Sephiroth."

He tilted his head. "Good afternoon."

"You're just in time," she said, "I _think_ I've come up with a methodical schedule to slowly take SOLDIER off of Jenova."

Not quite what he had come here for, but..., "Very well."

She motioned him inside and he walked in-to an office disaster zone. Papers scattered everywhere, folders open on the desk, her computer humming loudly, almost chuggingly, as if it had been on for days; a plate with half-eaten sandwich. Apparently, Aerith wasn't the only one putting so much of herself into her work. Then again, unlike Aerith who was mindlessly training, Lucrecia had the unfortunate duty of wading through Hojo's mess of a department, purifying it, getting it on track, starting new projects on top of replacing Jenova with Aerith's cells, and who knew what else.

She led him to the computer and offered him a seat. He accepted it, sat down back straight, and let his eyes wash over the schedule. "Hmm, once a month a first for a year, slowly increasing to once every few weeks, and then to once a week. It will take some time to cleanse SOLDIER."

Lucrecia nodded, placing her hands together. "Yes, based on what the Ancient said, I assumed we would want to do this slow as to not accidentally stir Jenova. Losing a potential vessel once in awhile can be attributed to many different things, nothing that I think would cause any distress. And as it gets used to it, we slowly speed up the process."

"Do we have a contingency plan, if it wakes?" asked Sephiroth.

"We're working on that," said Lucrecia, "We plan to, over time, fill up a backstock of Aerith's blood that we can use as an emergency on-site injector. We are vulnerable now, very vulnerable, but if a few years go by without any hiccups, we should be in a good spot."

_Vulnerable_

Sephiroth detested that word when SOLDIER was labeled with it. "How vulnerable exactly?"

Lucrecia hesitated. "Well... it comes down to the individual SOLDIER. Can they resist Jenova's control? The Ancient implied that they could with an incredibly strong will, but... I... I don't wish to disregard your men..."

"The average SOLDIER most likely does not meet that requirement," Sephiroth finished for her, "A strong sense of self and will is required to survive the SOLDIER process, but that does not necessarily mean they can resist something that could infect and control Ancients back when it first arrived."

"Well, we don't know how strong of mind and will the Ancients were, Aerith is all we have to go by as an example, but I think she's a bit of a special case," said Lucrecia.

"Undoubtedly," agreed Sephiroth.

"To finish though, the worst case scenario would be that Jenova awakens now, and takes control of almost all of SOLDIER, along with infecting the general populace," said Lucrecia, "It would be... an apocalyptic disaster. Now, I don't have a lot of information on Jenova herself, I really need to sit down with Aerith and get all the information I can from her on it. So, I made up what I thought was a few 'reasonable' scenarios and ideas of what her powers and abilities would be based on what Aerith has said and considering Jeniova wiped out the Ancients."

Sephiroth titled his head in acknowledgement. "And?"

"I spent some time crunching numbers on it, though I wish I hadn't. Best case scenario if Jenova awakens within the year is that humanity barely survives with less than a quarter of it's population intact, depending on, well...," she trailed of briefly, uncomfortable, "On how well you, Angeal, and Genesis can handle the situation. You are only three people, you can't be everywhere at once, protecting everyone, with all of SOLDIER turned against you."

A grim prospect.

Especially in slaying his own men. It was one thing with SOLDIERs who went mad and lost themselves, that was more of a freeing than a killing. But this? Being enslaved by this ' _creature_ '? Animated by it's will with no choice? It would be horrifying both to be them, and to be killing them. He had done many things in his life he wasn't proud of, most of it centered on the Wutai War, but doing that? Murdering his own enslaved SOLDIERs to save himself and the world?

He had to forcibly resist a shudder.

Either something bled through, or she had some kind of 'motherly instinct'; her hand hesitatingly squeezed his shoulder. He tensed briefly, there were very few people he allowed to willingly touch him, rapid fans aside. He understood that mothers 'did this', but... it was hard to let go of years of such reaction. Still, he forced himself to relax as he felt his mother's touch began to lift, feeling her apprehension in the air. She hesitated, but withdrew her hand regardless, not pressing. He could respect her for that.

"What are your estimates for various scenarios of when Jenova awakens?" asked Sephiroth.

"Well, it will take roughly ten years to fully cleanse SOLDIER at the rate we've chosen. The first few years are the most dangerous for us, her awakening within that timeframe would be disastrous. If we reach the five year mark, our outlook gets much better. We'll have roughly half of SOLDIER cleansed, and perhaps other countermeasures developed as well. In addition, Aerith will have physically matured, I imagine she'll start to be a valuable asset to SOLDIER at that point, not that she already isn't with what she's done for us," said Lucrecia before tilting her head, "If we go a decade without Jenova waking up, with all of SOLDIER cleansed, our prospects will be... well... good I suppose. I find it hard to imagine that she could take on all of SOLDIER, even if she infected all of Midgar as a awful scenario. Of course, if we find and dispose of Jenova before she wakes up, then all of this guesswork is discarded. It also I suppose depends on how Jenova acts when if she wakes up. Confrontational? Subtle and cunning? I've come up with a few model scenarios if you want to look at them."

Sephiroth did, but after the first few, it was apparent she wasn't a tactician. They were overviews, number crunching if X amount of population at Y city was infected; how certain SOLDIERs would fare based off their mission scoring; things of that nature. Still, he read through them all before pointing out something critical he found missing in her rigid estimates, "While these are valid to a degree, there is always the unknown factor to consider. Things we cannot predict, and with how much of an unknown factor Jenova is, there is much that could go wrong, much that we cannot prepare for. It could come up with strategies we have no concept of. As for finding and disposing of it early... I'm not placing faith in it. If we do, then excellent, if we don't, I will be as prepared as I can be."

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes, t-that is a valid statement. I suppose that makes most of my calculations moot."

"I appreciate the effort," offered Sephiroth, "And its not for nothing, I always value a thought out opinion, it offers me a new point of view and things I may not consider."

There was a hesitant smile on her face for a moment before it vanished and she cleared her throat. "Well... that's all I really had to show at the moment unfortunately."

"That is fine," answered Sephiroth, "I did not actually come here to discuss strategy or Jenova."

She blinked a few times. "Then why..."

"You offered, and it would have been rude of me not to listen," he preemptively answered.

"Oh... well, why did you drop by then?" she asked, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I... wished to... talk," he said slowly, methodically.

Her eyes went wide for a moment, a quick intake of breath. "A-about what?"

There was so much he wanted to ask, yet... she seemed more scared of the potential subject than he was nervous. Perhaps now wasn't the proper time. They hardly had spent any time together yet, delving into... deeper... matters, well, that might be to soon. Yes, better to take things slow. Perhaps what Aerith had told him then as a safer topic. Depending on if she knew her parents and how close she was to them if she did.

"I was talking with Aerith earlier," he said, noting how her shoulders relaxed, relief on her face, "I learned who her birth parents are."

Lucrecia blinked a few times. "Birth parents? I wasn't aware she was adopted."

"She is," he said before continuing, "She was born to Gast Faremes and Ilfana."

Lucrecia's jaw dropped, open shock on her face. "T-truly?"

Sephiroth nodded, before offering an obvious lead-in for her to continue. "Yes, I take it you knew them?"

She smiled a little. "Yes, they were part of the Jenova Project. Gast was a mentor of sorts, so patient and wise, he filled in what college failed to teach me. Ilfana, she was all sorts of fun; shopping, talking boys, had an odd penchant for flowers, but she was a close friend. At least, up until you were born."

It faded. "After I was cut off from you, and Vincent was shot, tension started rising, a lot. Last I saw, before I exiled myself, was that Gast and Hojo were butting heads almost daily."

She frowned. "Speaking of Gast... I haven't seen or heard anything of him since I returned."

"He's gone," said Sephiroth softly, "Both him and Ilfana were killed."

Lucrecia suckered in a breath, her face paling, the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "H-how?"

"Aerith told me Hojo shot Gast when she was an infant," said Sephiroth, "And that Ilfana died when they escaped Hojo's labs when she was seven."

Lucrecia's legs buckled under her, Sephiroth was however quicker, and got her to her chair. "Easy mother."

Lucrecia looked ready to hyperventilate. "Oh Gast... oh Ilfana... and Aerith, that poor girl, growing up in Hojo's lab."

Sephiroth didn't respond, his thoughts lingering on his own youth in Hojo's labs. There would come a time to discuss that later, but not now. He focused on his mother, her shocked tearing face, ragged breathing. He hesitatingly put a hand on her shoulder, and she readily leaned into it. Lucrecia... seemed like a fragile woman. Whether she was naturally like this, or it was the aftermath of her long 'hibernation' in a Mako crystal or the Jenova Project.

Speaking of which... she herself needed to be cleansed of Jenova, he wondered if she had realized that yet. Something to, yet again, bring up later. She needed time to rest and cope with the loss of dear friends. He was more than willing to give that to her though. For seeing her like this... made him feel something odd, a desire to safeguard and take away her pain. For she was **_his_ ** mother, to cherish and protect.

He would give her all the time in the world.

* * *

Aerith finished her tale and waited, watching the mixture of emotions pass across Elmyra's face. The woman said nothing for a good long while, simply staring at Aerith, eyes searching eyes. Finally, she ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"Dead before thirty," muttered Elmyra, latching onto what appeared to disturb her the most, rubbing her eyes, "Oh Aerith... that wasn't a life I wished for you."

"Giving my life for the Planet was my duty," answered Aerith.

"Is that how you choose to cope with it?" asked Elmyra dryly.

"There is no 'coping', said Aerith back with equal dryness, "I'm fine."

Elmyra snorted and rose to her feet, walking around the table to stand behind Aerith, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Aerith."

Aerith fidgeted uncomfortably. When was the last time she had been held like this? Since before she had left Midgar all those years ago. She hesitated, before slowly grasping her mothers arms and pulling them tighter to her chest. Oh how she had missed Elmyra... no doubt, just belief, acceptance, and love.

"And now you feel like you have to do it all over again," murmured Elmyra, "Haven't you done enough my child? You've already set things in motion for the better..."

Aerith sighed and gently peeled her mother's arms away. "It's not enough, it's not _nearly_ enough."

"When will it be enough?" half-demanded, half-whispered her mother.

"When Jenova is dead, and I don't have to worry about the top three of SOLDIER going insane," said Aerith plainly.

Elmyra tugged on her arm, and Aerith obliged, standing up to turn and face her Mother. The older woman reached a hand up to caress her face, fingers inches from her eyes. "And rushing into it like this is the way to do it?"

"I did not rush...," began Aerith.

"Let me finish," reprimanded Elmyra, "You woke up here, immediately started in on the Turks, shoved a brutal truth down the top three SOLDIERs throats, then got yourself pumped full of Mako within a week's time. Did you stop to even think of the consequences? For one, this glow... it's not going away Aerith. It's permanent. This will have consequences long after this 'Jenova' is dead. Do you understand that?"

"You say that as if it's guaranteed we'll win when there are no such thing as a free pass," said Aerith, "Sephiroth already won once when he went insane the first time. If he went off again, there's a high chance we'd all die. And Jenova? Sephiroth didn't care for the general populace until it was the end and he began to destroy the world. The Calamity, even if we beat her, if what happened to my ancestors is any indication, humanity might be lucky to even have a tenth of it's population survive the struggle."

Elmyra's hand tightened on her cheek. "That doesn't answer the question Aerith."

Aerith sighed. "I did not have time to waste, so I did what I must mom. If I live through this, I'll face the outcome without regrets."

Elmya's hand dropped away with a sigh, and she moved to the sink, starting to pile dishes in. "I see."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Elmyra glanced over. "Surely you haven't forgotten?"

Aerith gave her a blank look. "Forgotten what?"

Elmyra tapped a spoon on the counter. "Chores dear. This mess isn't going to clean itself."

Aerith huffed a little, "Not my mess," but smiled teasingly at her mother, glad the subject had been dropped, for now. Chores... was such a simple thing she hadn't done in a long time, something to lose herself in, and maybe pretend she was actually a young teenage girl again...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possessive Sephiroth is possessive | Elmyra knows best.


End file.
